Formula E race: KTR to be arrested soon?

Hyderabad: It seems BRS working president KT Rama Rao is likely to be arrested soon, as Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has reportedly given his nod to the state government to prosecute the senior leader and sitting MLA in the sensational Formula E race scam.

The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has already sought legal opinion before filing cases against KTR, who as the MA&UD minister approved the release of Rs 50 crore to a racing company for the conduct of the car racing competition in Hyderabad.

Preliminary investigation already revealed that Rs 50 crore was misused by releasing the funds to the agency directly without the consent of the state Finance department. Former Secretary to MA&UD wing Arvind Kumar also admitted that the funds were released on the instructions of the then MA&UD minister KT Rama Rao. Soon after coming to power, the Congress government cancelled the agreement entered between government and the racing agency.

Based on a fresh complaint lodged by the MA&UD wing recently , the ACB sped up the probe in the Rs 200 crore racing project.

The ACB found that the previous government permitted the laying of a special track for the conduct of e racing in February last year and the agency hosted the competition on Hussain Sagar premises. Greenco had spent Rs150 crore and Hyderabad Racing Limited Rs 30 crore. HMDA had also spent Rs 20 crore to develop the road track and other infrastructure. The MA&UD officials also signed an agreement with Formula-E Operation (FEO) in October 2023 to hold it once again (Session-10) on February 10, 2024. For this, the HMDA had paid Rs 55 crore to FEO.

Officials said that the ACB has already gathered the evidence against the former municipal minister. Now the government will order to book cases against KTR and prosecute him.