New Delhi:

After India’s Central Bureau of Investigation arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC K Kavitha on Thursday in connection with the excise policy scam, the jailed leader was summoned in a Delhi court on Friday.

Ms. Kavitha, who was in judicial custody till April 23 in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam being investigated by the education ministry, was arrested from Tihar Jail No. 6 at 12.50 pm on Thursday.

The CBI on Friday sought five-day detention of Ms Kavitha on the grounds that witness statements, retrieved WhatsApp chats and financial transaction documents related to the land deal identified her as a key conspirator in the scheme to pay Rs 100 crore to the AAP . Through the accused Vijay Nair and others, in exchange for favorable provisions in Delhi’s excise policy for 2021-22.

The CBI said investigations revealed that a liquor trader from south India met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat on March 16, 2021, to seek business support under the new excise policy for 2021-22.

Mr Kejriwal allegedly assured support and said Ms Kavitha would contact him about funding AAP.

“Ms. Kavitha called the businessman on March 19 and met him in Hyderabad on March 20, where she mentioned her coordination with Mr. Kejriwal’s team on the GST policy,” the CBI said.

The CBI claimed that approver Dinesh Arora confirmed in his statement that he was informed by co-accused Abhishek Boinpally that payment of Rs. Vijay Nair earns Rs 900-100 crore.

Mr. Arora elaborated that Rs 30 crore was transferred through him through hawala channels and was collected by Rajesh Joshi of Chariot Media Productions Pvt. Ltd., was entrusted by AAP to campaign for the Goa Assembly elections.

Further, statements and records of hawala operators confirmed that Rajesh Joshi transferred Rs 119.4 crore from Delhi to Goa through hawala during the relevant period.

CBI investigation revealed that the mobile chats between Mr. Butchibabu of California and Ms. Kavitha revealed that she was involved in M/s Indospirit through agent Arun R Pillai. Other partners include approver Raghav Magunta and accuser Sameer Mahendru.

“Despite the allegations of blacklisting and cartelization, M/s Indospirit obtained L-1 license under pressure from Manish Sisodia. Furthermore, under the influence of Vijay Nair, M/s Indospirit became M/s Pernod Ricard India Pvt. Ltd., a wholesaler, has a 35% market share in Delhi.”

The chat also revealed Ms. Kavitha’s efforts to help Raghav Magunta obtain NOC for the airport zone for his company M/s Pixie Enterprises.

The central probe agency’s remand application showed that Ms. Kavitha assured her of her connections within the Delhi government and her ability to assist the liquor business, in which Sharath Chandra Reddy was working in Delhi, as per the new excise policy.

Ms. Kavitha directed Reddy to pay Rs. The wholesale price is Rs 25 crore and Rs 5 crore per retail zone will be provided to AAP through her colleagues Arun R Pillai and Abhishek Boinpally, who will coordinate with Arvind Kejriwal’s representative Vijay Nair.

In March and May 2021, during the formulation of the GST policy, Ms. Kavitha’s colleagues Arun R. Pillai, Abhishek Boinpally and Butchibabu Gorantla stayed at the Oberoi Hotel in Delhi to influence the policy through Vijay Nair.

After ensuring support for Reddy’s business operations in Delhi under the policy, a payment of Rs. 80 lakhs were raised from Telangana Jagruthi, an NGO headed by Ms. Kavitha, through M/s Aurobindo Reality and Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., a part of the Aurobindo Group, was incorporated in March 2021 as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts.

The CBI further said that investigation revealed that between June and July 2021, Ms. Kavitha pressured Sharath Chandra Reddy to sign the sale agreement of agricultural land in Mahboob Nagar, Telangana, despite his lack of interest and knowledge about the value of the land.

Ms. Kavitha insisted that he pay Rs. 140 million to purchase the land and facilitate the sale through Mahira Ventures Pvt. Ltd., a part of the Aurobindo Group of Companies. The total payment is made through bank transaction – Rs. 7 crore in the first week of July 2021 and another Rs. 7 Crore in mid-November 2021.

“In the present case, Ms. Kavitha is required to be arrested for custodial interrogation to produce evidence and witnesses to expose the larger conspiracy hatched between the accused/suspects regarding the formulation and implementation of the GST policy and to ascertain that all trail of ill-gotten funds generated, identify the role of other accused/suspects including public servants and unearth facts unique to her,” the CBI claimed seeking her custody.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)