HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that BRS MLC K Kavitha, along with others, conspired with top leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party, including Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and the then Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, to get favours in the Delhi Excise Policy formulation and implementation.
The ED released an official statement in connection with Kavitha’s arrest on Monday.
The statement says: “In exchange for these favours, Kavitha was involved in paying Rs 100 crore to the leaders of AAP. By the acts of corruption and conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22, a continuous stream of illegal funds in the form of kickbacks from the wholesalers was generated for the AAP. Further, Kavitha and her associates were to recover the proceeds of crime paid in advance to AAP and to generate profits or proceeds of crime from this entire conspiracy.”
The ED said that it has conducted searches on 245 locations across the country, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and other places, and 15 persons, including Manish Sisodia, AAP MP Sanjay Singh and Vijay Nair, have been arrested in the case so far.
The ED said that it has so far filed one prosecution complaint and five supplementary complaints in the case.
The statement says that of the “proceeds of the crime”, assets worth `128.79 crore have been traced so far and have been attached vide provisional attachment orders on January 24, 2023, and July 3, 2023. Both the attachment orders have been confirmed by the adjudicating authority, the ED said.
Kavitha was arrested on March 15 in Hyderabad following a search of her residence. The ED alleged that during the search, its officials were obstructed by Kavitha’s relatives and associates.
Meanwhile, Kavitha on Monday knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, challenging her arrest by the ED.
KTR, Harish meet Kavitha
Meanwhile, on the second day in the ED custody, officials questioned Kavitha in connection with the Delhi liquor scam. Her brother KT Rama Rao and cousin T Harish Rao met her.
Notably, Kavitha’s husband DR Anil Kumar, in a letter, expressed his inability to appear before the ED for questioning, as asked by the agency, on Monday.
