CBI arrests BRS leader K Kavitha in corruption case linked to Delhi excise policy ’scam’ case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested BRS leader K Kavitha in Tihar jail in a corruption case related to the alleged Delhi excise scam, officials have informed. K Kavitha, an MLC in Telangana and daughter of BRS leader K Chandrasekhar Rao, had been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam on March 15.

According to report, the investigative agency will produce the BRS MLC from Telangana in the Delhi Rouse Avenue Court tomorrow. The CBI took Kavitha under custody at 12.15 pm in Tihar Jail, where she was under judicial custody in the money laundering case, according to K Kavitha's legal team.

On Wednesday, the CBI had informed a Delhi court that they had questioned the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader, K Kavitha, in the Tihar jail. K Kavitha had been remanded to judicial custody in the Tihar jail. 

The Delhi court had on April 5 allowed the CBI to quiz Kavitha in jail, an order which she has challenged. The ED had arrested K Kavitha, 46, from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15.

K Kavitha has been accused of being a key member in the ‘South group’, which the investigative agencies allege paid the Aam Aadmi party (AAP) kickbacks amounting to over ₹100 crore in return for a share of liquor licences in the national capital Delhi. 

The jailed leader K Kavitha had on Tuesday written a letter and claimed that the investigation by central agencies and the "media trial" have hit her reputation and invaded her privacy.

" Madam Justice, as the whole nation witnessed, past two and a half years of "Never Ending", ED and CBI investigation has turned into a media trial. Being a woman politician, I am the most victimized in the process, severely denting my personal and political reputation. My personal mobile phone number was displayed on all television channels, directly invading my privacy," the letter said.

In her letter, K Kavitha had also alleged that on the parliament floor, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had openly threatened opposition leaders with an ‘ED visit’. The BRS leader mentioned that the ED and CBI arrests made had only been targeting opposition leaders. 

"On the floor of the Parliament, BJP leaders openly threaten opposition saying "Chup ho jaao, warna ED bhej dunga." In this dire situation, Madam Justice, the opposition parties are looking up to the judiciary with great hope to give us respite," Kavitha had said in her letter.

(With agency inputs)