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Enforcement Directorate grills KTR for 7 hrs
BRS working president KT Rama Rao arrives at the Enforcement Directorate office in connection with the Formula E race case, in Hyderabad on ThursdayPhoto: Srinivas Setty
Hyderabad: Officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) interrogated BRS working president KT Rama Rao for over seven hours on Thursday, focusing pri-marily on the alleged payment of Rs 45 crore to a foreign country in vio-lation of FEMA and RBI regulations.
According to sources, KTR faced over 80 questions related to the ACB case and about 40 questions concerning the ED investigation. A four-member team, led by a Joint Director-level officer, conducted the ques-tioning at the ED office. Sources revealed that the inquiries centered on possible violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines regarding the Rs 45 crore transfer to a foreign country. Reportedly, KTR was asked why Ace Nxt Gen company withdrew from the initial bidding phase and why the Hyderabad Metropolitan Develop-ment Authority (HMDA) became a partner in the second phase.
Officials highlighted that the funds were converted into British Pounds at the In-dian Overseas Bank (IOB) and subsequently transferred to FEO in London. Additionally, the ED officials inquired about the subsequent fund trans-fers from the foreign company to other entities following HMDA’s trans-action.
Sources indicated that prior to questioning KTR, the officials conducted a preliminary inquiry involving Indian Overseas Bank staff. The ED officials questioned why the RBI was not informed about such a substantial over-seas transaction, as mandated. Detailed information was first gathered from the bank staff before notices were issued to KTR and two other offi-cials. It is understood that the bank staff may be listed as witnesses in the case alongside complainant Dana Kishore. The ED had previously questioned senior officers Arvind Kumar and BLN Reddy.
Security was tight at the ED office, with heavy police deployment, includ-ing a rope team and barricades, to manage the crowd. Earlier in the day, numerous BRS leaders and supporters gathered at the ED office, protest-ing the police and government. Party members surrounded KTR’s con-voy, raising slogans, but were subsequently detained and moved to nearby police stations.
Talking to reporters after coming out of the office of the Enforcement Di-rectorate (ED), KTR challenged Revanth to join him for a lie detector test. “Since Revanth has ACB and ED cases against him, he has imposed the same cases on me. If he comes for a lie detector test, Rs 8 crore allegedly being spent on ACB and ED cases against me can be saved and bonus can be given to 500 more farmers,” he said.
