brs-leader-k-kavitha-brought-to-ed-headquarters-in-delhi-following-arrest-in-her-home-turf

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha after an hours-long raid at her premises in Hyderabad and brought her to Delhi for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, agency sources said.

 

The BRS leader entered the agency’s headquarters in central Delhi around midnight and was lodged there for the night, sources said.

 

Kavitha, 46, a Telangana Legislative Council member, was arrested by the central probe agency at 5:20 pm from her residence at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, according to the arrest memo.

 

Her husband DR Anil Kumar was informed about her arrest and her preliminary statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) during the search that began at 1:45 pm, ED officials said.

 

She is the third high-profile arrest in the case after AAP leaders Manish Sisodia and Sanjay Singh. Her arrest came a day before the scheduled announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule.

 

Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was brought to Delhi in a commercial flight that landed at the IGI Airport late evening.

 

She is expected to be produced before a designated PMLA court on Saturday where the agency will seek her remand for custodial interrogation.

 

Kavitha’s legal team said the arrest was illegal as her petition against the ED summons had been listed by the Supreme Court for hearing on March 19.

 

The ED questioned Kavitha thrice last year in this case and again summoned her this year but she did not depose citing a Supreme Court direction that allowed her protection from any coercive action.

 

Talking to reporters in Hyderabad, BRS leader and former Telangana minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy alleged that the move was "pre-planned" and said they would protest against it.