ED gets 10-day custody of Raghav Magunta,YSR Congress MP's son, in Delhi's liquor policy scam case

New Delhi, Feb 11: Delhi's Rouse Avenue court granted 10-day custody of Raghav Magunta, son of YSR Congress Party MP from Ongole Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, to Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with its money laundering investigation into alleged irregularities in the Delhi excise policy case.

Raghav Magunta was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Friday evening.

He was produced before a local court, where the federal probe agency sought his custody.

This is the ninth arrest in this case by the ED, and the third this week.

It arrested Gautam Malhotra, son of former SAD MLA from Punjab Deep Malhotra, and Rajesh Joshi, the director of an advertising company called Chariot Productions Media Pvt Ltd, earlier in the week.

The agency had alleged that a cartel called 'South Group' of liquor retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers was created as part of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy, and the father and son duo were part of it.

It had searched premises linked to the Member of Parliament last year.

The ED, till now, has filed two charge sheets or prosecution complaints in this case.

The money laundering case stems from a CBI FIR.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and other excise officials of the government were named as accused in the CBI and the ED complaints.

For the unversed, the Delhi liquor policy scam case refers to an alleged corruption scandal that involves irregularities in the grant of licenses for the retail sale of liquor in the city of Delhi, India.

In 2020, the Delhi government's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB) registered an FIR against several individuals, including some officers of the Excise Department and private liquor vendors, for their alleged involvement in the scam. The FIR was based on a complaint by a non-governmental organization (NGO) that claimed that the licenses were granted in a non-transparent manner and in violation of the rules and regulations.