ED grills ex-MLA, former MP’s brother in Chikoti case

HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on Thursday interrogated former Anantapur MLA Gurunath Reddy, and Urvasi Bar owner and former MP Butta Renuka’s brother Yugandhar in connection with the Nepal casino case. The agency grilled the duo about their involvement in the case, their association with casino agent Chikoti Praveen and also about how much money was spent and where the money was exchanged for playing casino.

The ED sleuths suspect that the money was exchanged through Hawala transactions. They found that the associates of Chikoti had collected Hawala money from high-profile personalities and gave them some tokens, which the “players” encashed in Nepal or other countries to play casino games.   Data collected from mobile phones of Chikoti Praveen and Madava Reddy and a diary helped the ED officials to find details of money given to travel agencies and exchange of money and tokens with the celebrity ‘players’.

According to ED sources, former MLA Gurunath Reddy travelled frequently with Chikoti Praveen and Madhava Reddy to Nepal, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The officials grilled the duo about money exchanged through Hawala transactions and the details of bank transactions in case they withdrew money from their accounts for the purpose. The officials also questioned Yugandhar about his involvement in Hawala dealings as it suspects that the former MP’s brother has arranged money to several persons who visited Nepal in June this year.