ED’s Big Revelation on Liquorgate: South Group received Rs 292.8cr; AAP got Rs 100 cr to fight Goa Polls

Hyderabad: BRS MLC K Kavitha will be in jail for another month as the Rouse Avenue Court on Monday extended her judicial custody until July 3. According to the charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), the liquor scam was worth Rs 1,100 crore; of the amount, Rs 292.8 crore went to the South Group, which includes Rs 100 crore given as 'kickbacks' to the AamAadmi Party (AAP) to spend in the Goa elections in 2022.

Kavitha was produced before the court by the ED. Shortly after the extension of her judicial custody, the ED filed a supplementary charge sheet with 177 pages, naming Kavitha as A-32 and as one of the key conspirators. The ED said Kavitha was involved in the proceeds of crime, and the Indo-Spirit benefited with over Rs 192 crore (12 per cent profit margin) until the policy was scrapped; Rs 100 crore in kickbacks was given to AAP.

According to ED, the total money in the proceeds of the crime in the entire Delhi liquor policy case has now been identified as Rs 1,100 crore, of which Rs 292.8 crore is the amount Kavitha is related to. It includes Rs 100 crore paid to an AAP leader. It also said she had destroyed the digital evidence to conceal her role in the scam. She destroyed evidence by deleting content on mobile phones, was very evasive, and could not give any explanation why she formatted the phones.

According to ED, Kavitha was also involved in the act of influencing witnesses. The charge sheet says that CA Buchibabu, as a witness, claimed that Kavitha had asked people involved, including some co-accused in the case, to retract their statements. It also referred to the statements given by AAP candidates from the Goa elections in 2022, where it was stated that the star campaigners, including Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh, and Atishi Marlena, who campaigned, had meetings with all candidates where they asked the leaders to do campaigning and not to worry about expenses. ‘All expenses for rallies and meetings will be managed by them only’. The ED referred to this statement to support the claim that the proceeds of the crime went to boost the AAP campaign.

Meanwhile, Kavitha was produced before the court at the end of judicial custody by the CBI through virtual mode. She is also an accused in the CBI case. The court has extended the judicial custody until June 7, the day on which the agency will file the charge sheet. The CBI officials also produced the other accused Damodar Sharma, Prince Kumar, and Arvind Singh.