‘Kavitha threatened Sharat Chandra Reddy to pay money to AAP’, CBI tells court

Seeking the BRS leader’s custodial interrogation, the CBI told Special Judge Kaveri Baweja that it was at the “insistence and assurance” of Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, that Reddy got involved in the liquor business in Delhi.

Also Read: CBI arrests K Kavitha in corruption case linked to Delhi liquor scam

Kavitha allegedly assured Reddy

Kavitha had allegedly assured Reddy that she had contacts in the Delhi government and that she would help him in the liquor business in the national capital under the now-scrapped excise policy.

“Kavitha further told Sharath Chandra Reddy that the payments of upfront money of ₹25 crore for wholesale business and ₹ 5 crore for each retail zone were to be made to the Aam Aadmi Party for getting liquor business and the same was to be paid to her associates, Arun R Pillai and Abhishek Boinpally, who would in turn coordinate with Vijay Nair, who was a representative of (Delhi Chief Minister) Arvind Kejriwal,” the CBI told the court on Friday.

The court has sent Kavitha to the CBI’s custody till 15 April.

According to the agency, in March and May 2021, when the excise policy was being formulated, Pillai, Boinpally and Butchibabu Gorantla stayed at the Hotel Oberoi in Delhi to swing the policy in their favour through Nair by inserting provisions.

After receiving the assurance of support from Kavitha, Aurobindo Reality and Infrastructure Private Limited paid ₹80 lakh to her NGO, Telangana Jagruthi, under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in March 2021, the CBI has alleged.

Reddy’s statements

“The investigation has further revealed that in June-July 2021, K Kavitha had compelled Sharath Chandra Reddy to enter into a sale agreement with her for an agricultural land situated at Mahboob Nagar, Telangana, although he was not keen to purchase the said agricultural land and also not aware of the value of the said land,” it has said.

Kavitha “insisted” that Reddy pay ₹14 crore against the land and “forced” him to enter into the sale agreement through Mahira Ventures Private Limited, one of the Aurobindo Group companies, in July 2021, the CBI has told the court, citing Reddy’s statement and its investigation so far.

It said the total payment of ₹14 crore was made to Kavitha through bank transactions —₹7 crore in July 2021 and another ₹7 crore in mid-November 2021.

The agency has alleged that in November and December of 2021, Kavitha asked Reddy to pay ₹25 crore (₹5 crore per zone for the five retail zones allotted to him).

The BRS leader had claimed that she herself had paid ₹100 crore as upfront money on Reddy’s behalf to the AAP through Nair for getting favourable provisions in the excise policy.

“However, when Sarath Chandra Reddy showed his reluctance to pay the demanded money, K Kavitha threatened Sarath Chandra Reddy to harm his business in Telangana and Delhi under the excise policy,” the agency has alleged, citing Reddy’s statement.

Also Read: Kavitha’s judicial custody extended; CBI questions her in Tihar

Reddy gave electoral bonds to BJP: AAP

The AAP alleged on 24 March that Reddy’s company had given ₹59.5 crore to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) through electoral bonds.

“The companies owned by Sarath Reddy bought electoral bonds and donated money to the BJP. Now, this money trail has been exposed in front of the country. Reddy purchased electoral bonds worth ₹ 4.5 crore while the excise policy was being formulated and after his arrest, he purchased electoral bonds worth ₹55 crore and the money went to the BJP. So the money trail that has been sought for the past two years is here,” Delhi minister Atishi had alleged.

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