VIJAYAWADA/NEW DELHI: Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) late on Friday night arrested Magunta Raghava Reddy, son of YSR Congress (YSRC) MP from Ongole Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy. He was arrested after officials questioned him for several hours at the ED head office in Delhi.Raghava, held under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), was produced before the CBI special court in Delhi on Saturday and remanded in 10-day custody.The arrest came at a time when the Ongole MP was planning to launch his son into politics ahead of the 2024 general elections. Srinivasulu has close contacts with several parties, though he currently represents the YSRC. He has been MP from Ongole and Nellore representing Congress and the TDP in the past. He also enjoys ties with some prominent national-level BJP leaders.In its supplementary prosecution complaint filed recently in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, ED had accused AAP communications chief Vijay Nair of receiving a bribe of Rs 100 crore from what has been called the South Group. ED investigators have claimed that the group is managed by Raghava, non-executive director of Aurobindo Pharma Sarath Reddy and Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao’s daughter K Kavitha, who is also a Telangana legislative council member.Raghava’s name had cropped up in the initial inquiry into the scam several months before his arrest. However, his father had denied his involvement. The Magunta family has been in the liquor business for several decades now. They have been the South India distributors for the UB Group, which is based in Karnataka.According to the ED, Trident Chemphar Ltd, a group company of Aurobindo Pharma, controlled two zones in Delhi for liquor distribution, besides two zones by Avantika Contractors Pvt Ltd and one zone by Organomix Ecosystems, all controlled by Sarath.“Sarath Reddy Penaka is a key partner of the South Group. The other partners are Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Raghav Magunta, Sarath Reddy and K Kavitha. The group gave Rs 100 crore kickbacks in advance to the AAP leaders through Vijay Nair,” the ED has submitted in its chargesheet filed in a special PMLA court.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/liquor-scam-son-of-andhra-mp-held-sent-to-ed-custody/articleshow/97829776.cms