In a dramatic development that stretched through the day, the Enforcement Directorate officials arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) Kalvakuntla Kavitha in connection with the Delhi Liquor Policy scam case. She has been arrested under the provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
“In exercise of the power conferred upon me under sub section (1) of Section 19 of the PMLA, 2002 (915 0f 2003), I hearby arrest the said Kalvakuntla Kavita at 5.20 p.m. and she has been informed of the grounds for arrest. A copy of the grounds for her arrest has been served upon her,” read a release by the Directorate of Enforcement official.
Earlier, around noon today, three vehicles of ED and Income Tax officials reached the residence of Ms. Kavitha in Banjara Hills. The officials cordoned off her house, barred her staff from interacting with her, they seized their phones during the time the searches were carried out, according to sources close to her.
Meanwhile, Kavitha’s lawyer P. Mohith Rao released a statement that the matter has been posted for hearing on March 19, 2024 for grant of protection/restraint by the Supreme Court.
The ED is probing the allegation of Ms. Kavitha’s involvement in the ‘South Group’, which played a key role in the Delhi liquor policy scam that provided an exceptionally high profit margin both for wholesalers and retailers.
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.
