Delhi excise policy case: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and Telangana Chief Minister, KCR's daughter K Kavitha's questioning by the Enforcement Directoratecame to an end late on Saturday evening (March 11). She had been summoned connection with the Delhi liquor policy scam earlier in the day. Kavitha has been asked to apper before the ED again on March 16 for further questioning.
K Kavitha left the the federal agency's headquarters on APJ Abdul Kalam Road around 8 pm after nine hours of questioning and recording of her statement under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said. She had arrived at the ED office from her father's official residence on Tughlak Road, located about 1.5 kilometres away, around 11 am.
Kavitha had arrived in the national capital on March 8 (Wednesday), hours after the ED issued summons for questioning. Kavitha's brother and BRS leader KTR landed in the national capital on Friday (March 10).
Notably, on Friday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and former Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia was sent to the ED custody by a Delhi court till March 17 in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam case. K Kavitha's alleged involvement in the liquor scam had been hitting the headlines ever since Sisodia's arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February.
On March 8, the BRS came down heavily on the Centre after the ED summoned Kavitha in connection with its ongoing probe in the Delhi excise policy case, saying that the central probe agencies have become an extended arm of the BJP. Referring to the summons as "politically motivated", BRS leader Ravula Sridhar Reddy had said that except ED and BJP, nobody really understands the case registered in connection with the new-withdrawn new Delhi excise policy.
Hunger strike:
Earlier on Friday, Kavitha launched a hunger strike at Jantar Mantar in the national capital demanding the introduction of the Women's Reservation Bill in the current Budget session of Parliament. zSitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary, was also present at the protest. The sit-in dharna at Jantar Mantar was attended by opposition parties and women organisations, which supported the proposed Women's Reservation Bill from across India.
Addressing a gathering, Kavitha said this Bill will help in the development of the nation. She urged the central government to introduce the Bill in Parliament."Women's Reservation Bill is important and we need to table it soon. I promise all women this protest will not stop until the Bill is introduced. This Bill will help in the development of the nation. I request the BJP-led central government to introduce this Bill in Parliament," she said.
She also thanked the BRS leaders and cadre for extending their support to her protest."Empowering women in the legislative discourse cannot be demanded, it must be guaranteed by the government. I thank BRS leaders and cadre for extending their support to this protest," the Telangana leader said in a tweet.
(With agencies inputs)
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