BRS MLC and KCR's daughter Kavitha arrested by ED in Delhi Liquor Policy case

HYDERABAD: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha, who is the daughter of BRS supremo K CHandrasehkar rao (KCR), was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement in the Delhi Liquor Policy Case, exactly at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is participating in an election rally and road show in Malkajgiri in Hyderabad. The arrest assumes significance when the Election Commission of India is going to anounce the schedule for general Elections on March 16.

The ED sleuths descended on her residence in Hyderabad and began searches in her residence. They also questioned her. Her husband D Anil Kumar was also at hiome at the time. The ED officials reportedly came with an arrest warranet, even as her appeal was to come up before the Supreme Court of India on March 19. The case came up on Friday, but the case was adjourned to March 19. The ED officials would have to inform the Chairman of Telangana Legislative Council Gutha Sukhender Reddy.

The ED had to give an official statement on the arrest. It is said that the

The raid is part of a money laundering investigation into the Delhi liquor policy case in which Kavitha was summoned for questioning several times by the agency. At least 10 officers from New Delhi were conducting searches in the presence of Kavitha and her husband D Anil Kumar.

Also Read: CBI issues fresh summons to BRS MLC Kavitha in Delhi Liquor Scam

The ED had claimed Kavitha was linked to a 'south group' named lobby of liquor traders who were trying to play a bigger role under the now scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22.

The other members of the group, according to the agency, were Hyderabad businessman Sarath Reddy, YSR Congress Party MP Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy and his son Raghav Magunta Reddy. Some of these men have turned approvers.

The timing of the raid is making many raise their eyebrows, for the Election Commission of India is going to announce schedule for the upcoming general elections of 2024.

Soma Bharat Kumar, general secretary of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi, wondered how come the ED was raiding even as the petition of Kavitha was slated to come up in the Supreme Court on March 19. He said that the grounds were not mentioned so far to the lawyers. He said it was illegal to arrest her in contravention to the undertaken given to the Supreme Court by the ED that it would not act on her until the case was heard and the apex court gave any direction.Bharat Kumar said that the arrest of a female had to be preceded by certain norms and the BRS would fight the illegal arrest of Kavitha.Kavitha's brother and BRS working president K T Rama Rao and KCR's nephew T Harish Rao reached the residence of Kavitha, but the ED officials were not allowing them to get in.KTR and Harish Rao confronted the ED officials seeking to know the legality in the arrest. They sought to know if a transit warrant was issued to take her to Delhi at this hour (6.30 pm). If any arrest was done, they said, she would have to be produced in a local court and then apply for a PT warrant and the process being followed by the ED was violative of the law of the land.

Also Read: Delhi Liquor Scam case: Relief for Kavitha as Supreme Court adjourns case to November 20

Former Housing Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy strongly condemned the arrest and said the BJP was trying to politically corner KCR and the BRS by arresting her. Never in the history, a female was arrested in a moneylaundering case and that too in the evening hours. Prashanth Reddy said that the BJP Government had been after KCR and his family and also the party for long and were trying to put them in a political tight spot.

BJP State unit president and Union Minister G Kishen Reddy said that if she had been clean in the case, why did she have to hide behind the legal options. He defended the arrest suggesting that it was not political vendetta. Even Etala Rajender, BJP contestant from Malkajgiri, also defended the arrest and said the case was complicated and she did not provide proper clarifications to the probing agencies.

Editor's note: This is a developing story and more details would be added. Also, on the same day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Telangana for canvassing for his party.