Overview
- The Enforcement Directorate conducted multi‑location raids and arrested Kesireddy Rajasekhara Reddy and former APSBCL managing director D. Vasudeva Reddy on Thursday as part of a fresh PMLA case into liquor transport irregularities.
- Officials seized cash, two Rolex watches, a high‑end SUV and documents during searches and had earlier in March provisionally attached movable and immovable assets worth about Rs 441.63 crore linked to Kesireddy and associates.
- ED says the new May-registered PMLA case focuses on alleged transport‑tender manipulation that caused a reported wrongful loss of about Rs 195.33 crore while a running investigation alleges a broader kickback trail of roughly Rs 1,048.45 crore moved through hawala and shell entities.
- The probe began after a CID FIR based on the Principal Secretary’s complaint alleging up to Rs 4,000 crore in losses and has identified more than 33 accused; Kesireddy was earlier arrested by a state SIT in 2025 and granted high‑court bail in April before the ED action.
- The arrests raise the prospect of further asset freezes, additional prosecutions and wider scrutiny of APSBCL tender rules and distillery payments, and could lead to more raids and court hearings as investigators pursue the syndicate and its paper trail.