New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued fresh summons to K Kavitha, MLC of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and daughter of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, asking her to appear before it on Friday for questioning in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy and paying kickbacks to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders.
The central anti-money laundering probe agency is trying to unearth her role in influencing the policy and alleged bribery allegations, it is learnt. The ED has alleged that Kavitha was in touch with AAP’s communication in-charge Vijay Nair, who had met liquor businessmen and politicians at the time of policy formulation and implementation.
Kavitha is expected to be also questioned about her association with Sameer Mahendru’s Indospirits Group to control multiple retail zones in Delhi, and advance payment of kickbacks worth Rs.100 crore to the AAP leaders by an alleged South Group of which she was a member.
Highly placed sources said during her previous interrogation session, Kavitha was confronted with the statements of Butchibabu Gorantla, her former chartered accountant and Arun Ramchandra Pillai, as he represented her interests during multiple meetings with Nair and others.
Both Gorantla and Pillai were arrested arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in February and March, respectively. Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who has been portrayed as the main accused in the formulation of the now-scrapped 2021-22 exercise policy, was arrested in February.
Butchibabu, in his statement recorded before the ED officials on February 23 stated that “There was a political understanding between K Kavitha and the chief minister of Delhi (Arvind Kejriwal) and (former) deputy CM (Manish Sisodia) of Delhi. In that process, K Kavitha has also met Vijay Nair on 19th-20th March 2021”.
