VIJAYAWADA: Former minister and YSRCP senior leader Karumuri Nageswara Rao was remanded in judicial custody by a special Enforcement Directorate (ED) court in Hyderabad on Monday in connection with the alleged liquor transport scam.
The ED arrested Nageswara Rao on Sunday under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking him into custody in Hyderabad. He was produced before the Nampally ED court on Monday, where the agency sought custody, citing the need to investigate his alleged role and financial transactions. The court subsequently remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Nageswara Rao was later shifted to Chanchalguda jail after undergoing a medical examination.
The case relates to alleged irregularities in liquor transportation tenders floated by the Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) during the YSRCP regime. The ED has estimated the alleged loss to the state exchequer at around Rs 195 crore.
The agency has alleged manipulation of tender conditions and diversion of proceeds through subcontracting arrangements. Nageswara Rao’s son, Karumuri Sunil Kumar, was arrested by the ED in June in the same case.
The former minister has been under investigation after courts rejected his anticipatory bail pleas. The ED probe is continuing into the alleged money trail and other financial transactions linked to the case.