The son of Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) MP Magunta Raghava Reddy was detained by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy Scam investigation.
Magunta Raghava Reddy, the son of Andhra Pradesh MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, was arrested, according to ED agents, for his suspected involvement in kickbacks and the creation of the excise policy. Raghava Reddy was previously questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who also wanted to know if the liquor cartel had used a middleman to pay bribes to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government personnel in Delhi.
The Magunta family was allegedly in charge of one of Delhi’s liquor gangs and has been involved in the industry for some time.Raghava Reddy would be presented in Delhi’s Rouse Avenue Court at midday, according to ED sources.
In the case involving the Delhi excise policy, the Rouse Avenue Court on Wednesday remanded the auditor of Telangana CM’s daughter K Kavitha and businessman Gautam Malhotra, son of former Shiromani Akali Dal MLA Deep Malhotra, to the ED and the CBI, respectively.
Butchibabu Gorantla, a chartered accountant (CA) from Hyderabad who is also purported to be the auditor of Bharat Rashtra Samiti MLC K Kavitha, was detained by the CBI for three days in connection with the liquor scam.
According to the CBI, during the course of further investigation, his (Butchibabu Gorantla) role has surfaced in the criminal conspiracy with other co-accused persons, in the formulation of favourable liquor policy and deriving undue benefits out of the same.
During further investigation, the scrutiny of WhatsApp chats recovered from the seized mobile phones of Butchibabu Gorantla has revealed certain incriminating facts about the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy.
“He (Butchibabu) has remained in regular touch with FIR-named accused persons and other suspects during the relevant period. He has also attended various meetings with co-accused/suspects persons in Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai, where the criminal conspiracies have been hatched among them,” CBI said.
The ED and the CBI had, last year, alleged that irregularities were committed while modifying the Excise Policy, undue favours were extended to licence holders, the licence fee was waived or reduced and the L-1 licence was extended without the competent authority’s approval. The beneficiaries diverted “illegal” gains to the accused officials and made false entries in their books of account to evade detection.
As alleged, the Excise Department had decided to refund the Earnest Money Deposit of about Rs 30 crore to a successful tenderer against the set rules. Even though there was no enabling provision, a waiver on tendered licence fees was allowed from December 28, 2021, to January 27, 2022, due to COVID-19, which allegedly caused a loss of Rs 144.36 crore to the exchequer, which has been instituted on a reference from the Union Home Ministry following a recommendation from Delhi Lieutenant-Gover
