Formula-E race case: BRS leader KTR says ready for lie-detector test, if CM Reddy also comes forward

Hyderabad, Jan 16 (PTI) Asserting that he is ready for a lie-detector test in the Formula-E race case, BRS working president K T Rama Rao on Thursday dared Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to take the same test in the presence of any judge and media.

Rama Rao, popularly known as KTR, appeared before the ED after being issued summons in a money laundering case related to the Formula-E race event.

He arrived at the ED office at 10.40 am and was questioned for seven hours.

Talking to reporters after the questioning, KTR said he was ready for a lie-detector test if CM Revanth Reddy is also willing to undergo a lie-detector test in the ACB and ED cases against him (of the 2015 cash for vote case).

“I am giving you (Revanth Reddy) an offer and whenever you are ready, you decide the date and the place, I will come wherever you want. We will sit together. I am ready for the lie detector test. You also go for a lie detector test. We will sit in front of a judge. Be it a judge of ACB court or High Court and even a retired judge. Let the media make a live telecast and the entire Telangana watch. Who is lying and who is telling the truth will be known and let them (people of Telangana) decide,” KTR said.

Rama Rao further alleged Revanth Reddy's only target was to foist a case against him because he (Revanth Reddy) has ACB case and an ED case against him.

"He (Revanth Reddy) was arrested and eventually he wants me to be arrested. There is no corruption; and no money laundering (concerning the Formula-E race event). That's why I am saying that I am ready to sit with Revanth Reddy for a lie detector test. We will face and answer whatever questions are asked because I have not done anything wrong like you (Revanth Reddy)", Rama Rao said.

Rama Rao was referring to the ACB case against Revanth Reddy, who was then with the Telugu Desam Party, when he was apprehended by the ACB while allegedly paying a Rs 50 lakh bribe to Elvis Stephenson, a nominated MLA, for supporting TDP nominee Vem Narendar Reddy in the legislative council elections. Apart from Revanth Reddy, the ACB had arrested some others. All of them were later granted bail.

The Enforcement Directorate in May 2021 filed a charge sheet against Revanth Reddy, and others in connection with its money laundering probe into the alleged cash-for-vote scam.

On his questioning by the ED on Thursday, Rama Rao said he would fully cooperate with the investigating agencies and appear whenever they call him for questioning.

He alleged that the government is spending Rs 5 crore to Rs 10 crore for the investigation of the case where there is no substance and the same amount can be spent for the public good.

Police made elaborate security arrangements near the office. Earlier, in the day some BRS leaders and workers, who gathered at the probe agency office, were taken away by police when they argued with the police for not allowing them into the premises.

Ahead of his appearance before the ED, Rama Rao, who was the Municipal Administration Minister in the previous BRS regime, said hosting the Formula E race in Hyderabad remains one of his most cherished decisions as a minister.

The BRS leader in a post on 'X' said: "No amount of frivolous cases, cheap mudslinging, or political witch-hunting can erase that sense of accomplishment." He claimed that even though there is no wrongdoing, driven by "malice and political vendetta", the ruling Congress government in Telangana is hell-bent on dragging these well-documented events through the courts and investigating agencies.

The probe by the federal agency is linked to alleged irregularities in payments for the proposed Formula-E race event to be held in Hyderabad in 2024.

The agency filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), or FIR, recently under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after taking cognizance of a complaint by the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB).

Senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar and former HMDA chief engineer BLN Reddy had recently appeared before the ED over the same case.

The probe against Rama Rao pertains to alleged irregularities in payments amounting to about Rs 55 crore, most of which were in foreign currency, in "violation of laid-down procedures" during the previous BRS regime, for the event planned for 2024.

Rama Rao said Rs 46 crore was paid to Formula E Operations Limited (FEO) through a transparent bank-to-bank transaction and not a single rupee was misappropriated and every rupee is accounted for.

The Formula-E race was held in Hyderabad in February 2023. Although the race was initially planned for 2024, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

Rao, the prime accused in the case filed by the ACB, was questioned by the agency on January 9.

In December 2024, the ACB registered a case against Rao, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, and retired bureaucrat and former Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) chief engineer B L N Reddy.

The FIR was filed under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and the IPC, dealing with criminal misappropriation, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy. These alleged actions resulted in a loss to the government exchequer to the tune of about Rs 55 crore. PTI VVK GDK SSK VVK SSK ROH

Source: PTI