THE remand note issued by SIT during the arrest of alleged ‘kingpin’ of the Rs 3,200 crore Andhra Pradesh liquor scam accuses that top YSRCP leaders collected monthly kickbacks of Rs 50–60 crore from liquor brands that were granted preferential treatment in sales through Government-run outlets. The remand note of prime accused K Rajasekhar Reddy, alias Raj Kasireddy, an associate of former Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, alleges that the racket started in 2019 and “kickbacks collected each month were laundered” through hawala operators in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

 

However, the YSRCP on Saturday rejected these charges, criticising the TDP-led NDA Government of orchestrating a politically motivated liquor scam narrative against party leaders and employing media propaganda to propagate it. The SIT had arrested the alleged kingpin and made a case for judicial custody of the accused in the remand note presented before a judge of a local court here on April 22. It alleges that the automated system of placing orders for procurement of liquor from distilleries for sale through Government retail outlets was allegedly manipulated, nationally reputed brands were removed, and orders were placed on new brands way beyond the prescribed caps.

 

Kickbacks of Rs 150 per case of cheaper brands, Rs 200 for mid-range brands and Rs 600 per case for high-end brands were collected, it alleged. The collected amounts were handed over to Kasaireddy (who was IT advisor to the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy), who would pass the money to YSRCP leaders like V Vijay Sai Reddy, Mithun Reddy and others, the note alleges, putting the total money collected in kickbacks at Rs 3,200 crore. A web of shell companies, oral testimonies and corroborative sources was discovered during the investigation, the SIT said in the remand note presented in a local court. Funds were transferred to gold/bullion accounts, real estate companies, and laundered using hawala.