Hyderabad (Telangana) [India]: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao (KTR) and several other senior party leaders were placed under house arrest on Tuesday morning, the party announced. Among those detained are Harish Rao and RS Praveen Kumar. A significant police presence was observed outside KTR’s residence in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, following the recent arrest of BRS MLA Padi Koushik Reddy.
This development comes in the wake of allegations of corruption against KTR in connection with the Formula E race case, which he has strongly denied. Speaking on Thursday, KTR called the accusations “frivolous” and an “abuse of the law process.”
After appearing before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on January 9 for questioning, KTR criticized the investigative process. “They [ACB] have no case. It’s a frivolous case. I told them it was an abuse of the process of law. They kept asking the same question over and over again for almost 80 times. But to their peril, they have zero case in this,” KTR told ANI.
KTR alleged that the charges are politically motivated, accusing the Telangana Chief Minister of orchestrating the case to suppress opposition. “This is not my fight. This is basically to suppress any voice that is going to question this government. I will fight legally, seek all kinds of legal remedies, and hope the truth will come out, and justice will prevail,” he said.
The Telangana High Court recently dismissed KTR’s petition to quash the charges in the Formula E race case. The ACB is investigating alleged financial irregularities tied to the Formula E race held in Hyderabad in February 2023.
Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against KTR and others, following the FIR filed by the ACB.