CA working for KCR’s daughter arrested by CBI

Officials said Butchibabu, who earlier worked with Kavitha, a Member of Legislative Council with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), was summoned by CBI to join the investigation at their headquarters in Delhi. Before this, CBI had questioned Kavitha at her Hyderabad residence and recorded her statement.

Recently, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in its supplementary prosecution complaint filed over alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case accused AAP communications chief Vijay Nair of receiving kickbacks to the tune of Rs 100 crore from the “South Group”, allegedly comprising individuals identified as YSRCP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy, and Kavitha. Kavitha has denied the allegations.

In its chargesheet filed into irregularities in the excise policy case, CBI has stated that hawala channel transactions to the tune of Rs 20-30 crore were allegedly made by South-India based liquor manufacturers to Nair to use his position in the ruling party in Delhi to achieve the illegal objective of cartelisation. As per the CBI chargesheet, the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy when the excise policy was under formulation from April 2020 to get “undue benefits by circumventing provisions of policy…”

Meanwhile, Special Judge MK Nagpal at Rouse Avenue district court remanded Gorantla to CBI custody till February 11. The CBI had moved a 5-day police custody remand of the accused and told the court that during the probe, “his role has surfaced in the criminal conspiracy with other co-accused, in the formulation of favourable liquor policy and deriving undue benefits”.

The CBI told the court that the “scrutiny of WhatsApp chats recovered from the seized mobile phones” of the accused “revealed certain incriminating facts about the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy”.

Gorantla’s lawyer, senior advocate Pramod Kumar Dubey, told the court that his client was arrested by the agency by not following due procedure. He told the court that his client had joined the investigation on multiple occasions.