Telangana: ED Issues Fresh Summons to KTR for Jan 16

Hyderabad: The Enforcement Directorate has issued a fresh summons to BRS leader K T Rama Rao for questioning in a money laundering case on January 16 after he did not depose on Tuesday, official sources said.

The probe by the federal agency is linked to alleged payment irregularities during the Formula-E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023.

Sources said 48-year-old Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, was asked to depose on January 7. However, he sought two weeks to depose and hence, he was given a fresh date to appear on January 16.

The federal agency had filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) or FIR recently under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act taking cognisance of a Telangana Police Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) complaint.

In a setback to the BRS working president, the Telangana High Court on Tuesday refused to quash the ACB FIR against him in connection with the Formula E race issue, removing the protection against the arrest given to him.

Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and retired bureaucrat and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer B L N Reddy have been issued fresh summons for January 9 and January 8 respectively, the sources said.

The probe against KTR pertains to alleged payments of about Rs 55 crore, some of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct a Formula-E race in Hyderabad during the previous regime in February last year.