Delhi liquor policy case: ED arrests Aurobindo Pharma director
The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two company executives linked to liquor trade
HYDERABAD: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) intensified its probe into the Delhi liquor scam case by arresting two more businessmen from Hyderabad and Haryana — P. Sharath Chandra Reddy, director of Aurobindo Pharma Limited and Benoy Babu, general manager of Pernod Ricard, International Brands, respectively.
The two were detained in Delhi, produced in court and sentenced to police custody for seven days.
A few days ago, the ED raided the premises of Trident Life Sciences and pharma companies, in which it found evidence of the transactions linked to the Delhi liquor scam. Babu and Sharath Chandra are alleged to have laundered money through irregularities.
It is alleged that Sharath Chandra Reddy, who is a director for several companies, is involved in cartelisation of licences. On September 21, 22, and 23, the ED questioned Reddy in Delhi after conducting raids in Hyderabad in connection with the case. It was the third arrest in the case.
Meanwhile, the management of Aurobindo Pharma released a statement that the company learnt that the arrest of P. Sharath Chandra Reddy, Whole Time Director / Promoter Group of the company, is not in any way connected with the operations of Aurobindo Pharma Limited or its subsidiaries.
Reddy was not named in the FIR of the CBI despite being a director of Trident Life Sciences. Its CEO Chandan allegedly sent a complaint to the ED in Delhi, complaining of harassment by the agency’s officials by forcing him to name Sharath Chandra Reddy in the case.
A letter of the complaint went viral on the internet following Sharath Chandra Reddy’s arrest.
Benoy Babu, the general manager of International Brands, Pernod Ricard, is also alleged to have played a key role in the Delhi liquor scam case. The CBI named Majon Raj, a former employee of Pernod Ricard in the FIR, and found financial transactions between Benoy and Raj.
The court directed the ED to grill the accused in the presence of their advocates and record it on CCTVs. The court also allowed family members of the accused to meet them between 5 pm and 6 pm during the police custody period.