Twist in liquor scam case: Trident official claims assault by ED sleuths, statement under duress

HYDERABAD: Even as a CBI special court granted the Enforcement Directorate (ED) a seven-day custody of Aurobindo Pharma MD Sharat Chandra Reddy and Binoy Babu, who were arrested on Thursday in connection with the Delhi liquor scam, the case received a dramatic twist after a Trident official alleged assault by the ED sleuths and retracted his earlier statement.

Following the arrests on Thursday, the ED produced both Sharat Reddy and Binoy Babu in a CBI special court. The court granted permission to the ED to hold the accused in their custody for seven days for further questioning in the case. The court also allowed mulakat time for one family member to meet the accused between 5 and 6 pm during the span of their ED custody.

Meanwhile, as some reports claimed, a letter written by Chandan Reddy, former CEO of Trident Chemphar Limited, to the Director of ED, was produced before the court by the counsel of the accused to claim that the ED had no evidence to arrest them. It was claimed that Chandan Reddy, in his letter to the ED chief, alleged that he was brutally assaulted by the sleuths of the agency during his earlier questioning and was coerced into writing a statement as per the whims of the agency.

The reports also said that Chandan Reddy had claimed to have given the statement – which purportedly became the basis for Sharat Reddy's arrest – under duress. Alleging that he was coerced to state that Sharat Reddy had links to the Delhi liquor scam, Chandan retracted his earlier statement, in his letter addressed to the ED director.

Meanwhile, Aurobindo Pharma has sought to clarify that the arrest of Sharat Reddy was in no way connected to its operations.