The Central Bureau of Investigation ( CBI ) stated that a former auditor of BRS MLC, a Hyderabad-based chartered accountant named Butchibabu Gorantla, has been arrested in connection with the Delhi excise policy case.
The CBI had called Gorantla to Delhi for questioning on the matter, and he was questioned 15 times between August and October of the previous year at the CBI’s offices in New Delhi and Hyderabad.
Additionally, Gorantla was questioned again from February 1 to 4 of this year, and the officials claimed that he concealed information related to the conspiracy behind the alleged offence, incriminating WhatsApp chats retrieved from his mobile phones, the role of other accused, including public servants, as well as the trail of the ill-gotten money sent by the accused through hawala channels.
The CBI produced Gorantla before a special court in New Delhi, which sent him to the federal agency’s custody until February 11. The CBI will attempt to uncover the larger conspiracy that the suspects had devised regarding the formulation and implementation of the Delhi excise policy, the money trail, and the role of other accused, including public servants, the officials said.
Gorantla was arrested on Tuesday around 8 pm as he was non-cooperative and found to be evasive when confronted with evidence, the officials said. The CBI alleged that Gorantla’s role in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 caused “wrongful gains” to Hyderabad-based wholesale and retail liquor licensees and their beneficial owners.
The CBI had filed its charge sheet on November 25, 2022, against seven people, including businessmen. According to the agency, during its investigation, it found evidence that Gorantla, who was a former chartered accountant of Ms Kavitha, acted on behalf of the “south lobby” comprising the Telangana MLC, YSRCP MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, and Aurobindo Pharma’s P Sarat Chandra Reddy Nair, who was allegedly leading negotiations to form a cartel in the Delhi liquor business, was told that Gorantla was closely associated with “big politicians from the south,” including MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and Kavitha, the officials said.
The CBI investigation into the money trail and the larger conspiracy in the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy 2021-22 is still ongoing, according to an official. In December of the previous year, the CBI had questioned Ms Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in connection with the case. Gorantla also attended meetings with various accused in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad, where the “conspiracy was being hatched,” the officials noted.
Support our journalism by subscribing to Taxscan premium. Follow us on Telegram for quick updates
