VIJAYAWADA: YSRCP senior leader and former minister Karumuri Venkata Nageswara Rao was produced before the Vijayawada ACB Court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Andhra Pradesh liquor transport scam case on Thursday.
Karumuri was brought to Vijayawada from Chanchalguda prison under a PT warrant.
The ACB court subsequently extended Karumuri’s judicial remand till September 25.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had registered a case over alleged irregularities and money laundering in liquor transportation tenders floated through the Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) during the YSRCP regime.
According to the ED’s findings, transporters were required to be paid Rs 13 per kilometre under the prescribed norms.
However, the tender conditions were allegedly altered, resulting in payments of up to Rs 35 per kilometre. The changes allegedly caused a loss of around Rs 195.33 crore to the government exchequer.
The ED has also alleged that the YSRCP senior leader, who was Civil Supplies Minister during the previous regime, misused his official position to facilitate liquor transport sub-contracts for his son Sunil Kumar and his business associates.
Sunil Kumar, former APSBCL managing director Vasudeva Reddy and Digital Networks chief Raj Kesireddy have already been arrested by the ED in connection with the case.
The agency has further alleged that Rs 15 crore was routed to Karumuri through hawala channels and that he benefited from key accused persons in the alleged scam.
Following his arrest, the ED also provisionally attached assets linked to Karumuri’s family, valued at approximately Rs 87.7 crore, as part of its investigation.
