A Delhi court on Monday extended the custody of Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandra Pillai, arrested in a money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy case, by three more days as per the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) request.
According to news agency PTI, the ED had claimed that he is a close aide of BRS MLC and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha and an alleged frontman of the liquor cartel - "South Group" - that paid kickbacks of about Rs 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to gain a larger share of the market in the national capital under the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2020-21.
The Hyderabad-based businessman was arrested by the ED on March 6 and produced before the court the next day. The court then sent him to ED custody, which was to end on Monday.
The ED alleged that Pillai represented the “South Group” in meetings with other accused when the policy was being formulated and implemented.
The excise policy was scrapped in August last year and the Delhi lieutenant governor subsequently asked the CBI to probe the alleged irregularities and corruption involving government authorities, bureaucrats, and liquor traders, among others.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao's daughter K Kavitha was also questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in Delhi on Saturday.
Former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia has been arrested in connection with the same case.
Notably, Arun Pillai has accused the ED of forging his statements in the matter. In the application moved before the court on Friday, Pillai's lawyer sought to retract the statements reportedly recorded before the agency. The accused claimed that ED forced him to sign two documents and presented them as his statements, including one in November 2022, PTI reported.
Former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was also arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation in February in the same case. Sisodia was arrested in connection with alleged corruption charges in the formulation and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy for 2021-22. The matter escalated further when the ED also placed him under arrest earlier this week.
He resigned from the government following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on February 26.