YSRC MP Magunta denies involvement in Delhi excise policy scam

ONGOLE: A day after his name found a mention in the remand report of an accused in the Delhi liquor scam, YSRC MP from Ongole Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy Thursday denied having any sort of links with the scam. He also said that it was a conspiracy hatched by the North Indian liquor lobby against the South Indian liquor businessmen.  “We have nothing to do with the alleged Delhi liquor scam. We does not have any share in the said firm,’’ he asserted.

The MP, along with his son Raghava Reddy, attended the 27th death anniversary function of his elder brother and famous industrialist-turned-politician late MP Magunta Subbarami Reddy on Thursday.
Speaking on this occasion, the YSRCP MP strongly condemned the allegations made against him, his son, and their firm regarding the excise scam.  Magunta clarified, “ I don’t know who Arora is; I have not even heard that name before.”

It may be recalled that in the Enforcement Directorate’s remand report of businessman Amit Arora, it was mentioned that the key accused Vijay Nair received kickbacks worth Rs 100 crore from ‘South Group’ controlled by Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and TRS leader K Kavitha.

“Neither me, nor my son, has any direct or indirect connections with the issue,” he said. Srinivasulu Reddy said his family was involved in liquor business for over seven decades. “My father started liquor business in 1952 and we run the business in eight States. Liquor businessmen in Delhi do not want us to enter the business there and they have been conspiring for the past six months,’’ he alleged. When the scam surfaced and the ED started investigating the money laundering angle, Magunta family came under the lens.

The ED had earlier conducted raids on the offices and residences of Magunta in Delhi, Chennai, Nellore and Hyderabad. The MP had claimed that the ED officials could not find anything wrong.