According to the latest reports, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Monday started questioning Nanda Kumar, an accused in the poaching of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLAs, in connection with alleged money laundering.
Kumar was being questioned by ED officials at Chanchalguda Central Prison. In the prison, special arrangements were made for questioning the accused.
The central agency will record Kumar’s statement after obtaining permission from a city court to question him for two days.
On Saturday, the third Additional Chief Metropolitan Court granted permission to ED Assistant Director Sumit Goyal and two other officers to record the accused’s statement in jail for two days in the presence of his lawyers.
According to the court order, the ED officials had to submit documents to the jail authorities before entering the premises, certifying that they had tested negative for Covid-19.
The court ordered the jail Superintendent to allow ED officials access to Kumar between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The court also ordered that enforcement officers classified as police officers under the PMLA Act strictly adhere to the Civil Procedure Code as outlined in Section 50 of the Act and refrain from using third-degree methods to compel the accused to give his statement.
The ED Assistant Director was directed to submit a detailed report to the court, along with relevant documents, soon after Kumar’s statement was recorded.
In connection with the money laundering allegations, the ED has already questioned the complainant in the poaching case, BRS legislator Pilot Rohith Reddy, for two days, as well as Abhishek Avala and Arun Avala, Directors of 7 Hills Manikchand Pvt Ltd.
The agency suspected several transactions between Kumar, Abhishek, Arun, and Rohith Reddy, as well as his brother Rithesh Reddy.
On Sunday, Rohith Reddy, a complainant in the MLAs’ poaching case, announced that he would go to the high court to challenge the ED’s questioning.
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The MLA questioned why the ED was questioning the complainant rather than the accused, alleging that the BJP was attempting to implicate him in a false case via the ED.
He claimed to have information indicating that the central agency will attempt to implicate him by recording a fabricated statement from Kumar.
On October 26, Cyberabad police arrested Ramachandra Bharati, Simhayaji, and Nanda Kumar during a raid on a farmhouse in Moinabad, near Hyderabad.
The arrests were made following a tip from Rohit Reddy, who claimed that the accused offered him Rs 100 crore and Rs 50 crore to three others.
On December 1, the Telangana high court granted bail to all three accused in the poaching case involving MLAs.
However, shortly after their release from jail on December 8, Bharati and Kumar were re-arrested by police in connection with other cases filed against them.
While Bharati was booked for possessing multiple passports, Aadhaar cards, and other documents, five cases were registered against Kumar for cheating and other offenses.
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