Hyderabad: “My daughter Kavitha might be arrested by Enforcement Directorate,” BRS president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao is believed to have told the party executive at a meeting at Telangana Bhavan here on Friday. “I have asked K.T. Rama Rao and T. Harish Rao to rush Delhi to support her.”
The two ministers left for Delhi on Friday evening.
The CM told the meeting that they did not fear such arrests and would continue to fight against the BJP.
This left the BRS leaders on the edge though there seemed to be good news for the party with Hyderabad- based businessman Arun Ramachandra Pillai on Friday moving an application to retract his state-ment to the ED on Kavitha.
Pillai moved the application before Delhi’s Rouse Avenue court. The court issued a notice to the ED over Pillai’s plea.
On March 7, the ED had arrested Pillai in the Delhi liquor scam. In its remand report, the ED stated that Pillai had confessed to be being a benami of Kavitha. Based on this, the ED had built its case against Kavitha.
Pillai taking a U-turn, it was said, now cast a doubt over the progress of this case.
A battery of lawyers from the BRS legal cell rushed to Delhi on Friday to extend legal assistance to Kavitha prior to and after ED’s questioning.
It is learnt that Kavitha is expected to reach the ED office after 10 am on Saturday.
The CM alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was misusing central investigation agencies such as CBI, ED and the I-T department to target Opposition parties and ED’s notice to Kavitha was part of it.
“A few people are saying that Kavitha will be arrested in this case. Let them arrest her. We will not fear summons and arrests. We will continue to fight against the BJP until it is ousted from power at the Centre,” he reportedly said, according to party sources.
The CM said that the BJP government had targeted Telangana ministers, BRS MPs, MLAs, MLCs and MPs in the past few months using central agencies and now it was the turn of Kavitha.
“These raids, cases and arrests by central agencies will continue. There is no need for panic. We will face them politically and legally. The party leadership will extend all moral and legal support for all the leaders who will be victims of central agencies, ” Rao reportedly said.
He alleged that the BJP government at the Centre was unable to digest the rapid development of Telangana state in all sectors achieved in the last eight years and conspiring to create hurdles in its growth.
“They are harassing our ministers, MLAs, MPs, MLCs with CBI, ED and I-T raids. Let us not give up. Let us fight unitedly until BJP vanishes from this country,” Rao said.
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