Tank Bund, bus shelter projects under ED radar

HYDERABAD: The ongoing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation into the Delhi liquor scam is said to have revealed a network of companies and individuals associated with Vennamaneni Srinivasa Rao which has succeeded in getting money-spinning projects based out of Hyderabad Metro Rail stations and modern bus shelters.

These companies are run either directly by the people who are known for their proximity to the power corridors in the state or their benamis. The ED questioned Srinivasa Rao, a director of Pavithra Pipes and Hyderabad Shopping Private Limited, for more than seven hours on Monday.

Sources told Deccan Chronicle that the financial transactions that Rao had indulged in and his links with the network of companies were being probed. “Dozens of companies have been set up by this network and got into the business of food courts and arenas based out of Hyderabad Metro Rail,” sources said.

The network, according to ED sources, began with B.V.L.N Sarma, a director in Srinivasa Rao’s firm Pavithra Pipes, and spread to Navico Advisory and Rirish Infra projects run by one Kalidindi Krishna Mohan, who in turn partnered with Sumanth Reddy in Buildnext Metro Arena and Buildnext Metro Arena (Miyapur) for the Metro Rail -project based businesses.

Sumanth Reddy is also a director with Buildnext Infracon which has bagged various projects, as claimed in their website, including Tank Bund beautification, food kiosks in Metro Rail stations, footpaths developed by Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited and modern bus shelters built across the city.

ED officials have been investigation allegations of money-laundering in the Delhi liquor scam case and the questioning of Srinivasa Rao focused on eliciting details of the financial transactions carried out by him, sources said. After a thorough probe into his activities, the ED is likely to serve notices to businessmen who have links with him.