Delhi excise policy scam: Officials of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha in connection with the Delhi liquor scam for more than seven hours at her residence in Hyderabad on Sunday. A team of CBI officials had visited the Member of Legislative Council (MLC) of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) at her Banjara Hills residence.
The officials, including a woman, arrived in two vehicles amid tight security around 11 a.m. They recorded Kavitha's statement under Section 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code. The central agency team left the place after 6 p.m. There was no official word about the questioning. However, Kavitha's office is likely to issue a statement about the same soon.
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The surroundings of Kavitha's house wore a deserted look before the arrival of the CBI officials as she had requested her supporters and BRS leaders not to assemble at the place. Barricades were also erected to prevent any gathering. The CBI, in its notice to Kavitha, had mentioned that the case was registered on the basis of a written complaint received from Praveen Kumar Rai, Director in the Union Home Ministry against Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 14 others regarding the allegations pertaining to excise policy of Delhi for 2021-22.
"During the course of investigation of the subject cited case, certain facts have emerged which you may be acquainted with, hence your examination on such facts is required in the interest of investigation," the CBI said in its notice. On November 30, Kavitha's name surfaced in the remand report filed by the ED in a Delhi court on Wednesday for remand of businessman Amit Arora in Delhi liquor policy scam.
According to the remand report, businessman Vijay Nair, who has already been arrested in the case, received kickbacks of Rs 100 crore on behalf of AAP leaders from a group, called 'South Group', controlled by Kavitha, Aurobindo Pharma Director Sarath Reddy, and Srinivasulu Reddy who is a member of Parliament belonging to Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).
However, Sarath Reddy has already been arrested. Kavitha had initially agreed to the CBI's request to meet them on December 6. However, she later wrote a letter to the probe agency seeking copies of the complaint from the Union Home Ministry and the FIR. After going through the FIR later she informed the agency that she had found that her name does not figure in the report in any manner. She had conveyed to the central agency that she is not in a position to meet them on December 6 and proposed alternate dates.
However, the CBI informed Kavitha that a team will visit her residence in Hyderabad on December 11 for recording her statement in connection with the investigation and asked her to confirm availability on the said date and time. Kavitha then sent a reply the same day confirming her availability.
(With IANS inputs)
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