Published Aug 23, 2026 | 8:05 PM ⚊ Updated Aug 23, 2026 | 8:05 PM
Nageswara Rao served as Civil Supplies Minister under the previous YSRCP government.
Synopsis: The Enforcement Directorate has arrested former Andhra Pradesh Minister and senior YSRCP leader Karumuri Nageswara Rao in connection with an alleged liquor transport scam during the previous YSRCP government. The arrest came after Nageswara Rao was denied anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court and the High Court.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested former Andhra Pradesh Minister and senior YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Karumuri Nageswara Rao on Sunday, 23 August in connection with its investigation into the alleged liquor scam involving the Andhra Pradesh State Beverages Corporation Limited (APSBCL) during the previous YSRCP government.
ED officials took Nageswara Rao into custody at his residence in Kondapur, Hyderabad, and moved him to the agency’s regional office in Basheerbagh for questioning.
The arrest came after Nageswara Rao was denied anticipatory bail by the Supreme Court and the High Court.
Nageswara Rao, who served as Civil Supplies Minister under the previous YSRCP government, has been under the ED’s scanner since June, when the agency conducted searches at his properties.
The agency simultaneously searched properties belonging to Kesireddy Raja Shekhar Reddy and former APSBCL managing director Dontireddy Vasudeva Reddy. Both were subsequently arrested and remanded to judicial custody. Nageswara Rao’s son, Sunil Kumar, was arrested on June 18 in the same case.
The investigation concerns alleged large-scale irregularities in liquor transportation tenders floated by the APSBCL. The ED has estimated the loss to the State exchequer at about ₹195 crore.
The ED probe stems from an FIR registered by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on the basis of a complaint from the Vigilance Department.
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