HYDERABAD SATURDAY MARCH 23, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 LATE CITY EDITION MANY FEARED DEAD AS GUNMEN OPEN FIRE AT MOSCOW CONCERT Several gunmen in camouflaged outfits burst into a big concert hall in Moscow on Friday and fired automatic weapons at the crowd MASSIVE BLAZE SPEARDS THROUGH BUILDING Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed there were deaths in what he called a “terrible tragedy”, but no further details were given. According to an eyewitness, attackers opened fire upon entering the Crocus City Hall building and threw a grenade, which caused a massive blaze that quickly spread through the building in western Moscow | P9 ■ 6,000 VIDEO SHOWS PEOPLE SHOT AT POINT-BLANK ■ The attack took place as crowds gathered for a concert of Picnic, a famed Russian rock band. Videos posted online showed four men armed with assault rifles shooting people at point-blank range The US State Department has issued a warning to American citizens in Moscow to avoid large gatherings over the next 48 hours THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE THE CONCERT HALL CAN ACCOMMODATE CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ED CLAIMS HE IS ULTIMATE IN-CHARGE OF AAP, WAS PART OF FRAMING EXCISE POLICY ED gets custody of Delhi CM for 6 days in money laundering case S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi ARRESTED Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal got no relief from a local court here on Friday as it remanded him for six days in the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) custody, till March 28 in the Delhi excise policy scam. Three other leaders of his Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) — Satyendar Jain, Manish Sisodia, and Sanjay Singh — are already under ED arrest in the same case. “The accused, Arvind Kejriwal, be remanded to six day ED custody till March 28,” Spe, cial Judge PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) Kaveri Baweja, said in her order. Kejriwal was produced in the Rouse Avenue court around 2 pm amid heavy security The . ED sought his custody for 10 days, claiming he had to be interrogated in a “detailed and sustained manner” in the excise case. The court’s order is a big blow for Kejriwal as he was preparing to hit the campaign trail in the general elections to increase his party’s footprint. Earlier in the day, he withdrew a plea from the Supreme Court he had filed the previous day challenging his arrest. , Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, said he was withdrawing his plea from the SC and would argue the case in the lower court where he would be produced by the ED. As for the ED, it alleged in the Rouse Avenue court that Kejriwal is the kingpin of the Delhi liquor scam. “The CM demands kickbacks from South Group. It is a serious crime,” Additional Solicitor General (ASG) S V Raju told the court. The probe agency said that huge cash amounts were handed over to various people. The proceeds of crime in the case were used in the Goa polls, it added. Vehemently opposing the arguments, Singhvi said the power of arrest was not equal to the need to arrest. “If the ED has proof, then why custody? No necessity of his arrest. The ED has to show the necessity of his arrest. Why did you need custodial interrogation?” he questioned. 2G SCAM HC admits CBI plea against clean chit to Raja S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Friday admitted the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) six years ago against the acquittal of all the 17 accused in the 2G spectrum allocation case, including former telecom minister Andimuthu Raja, DMK leader K Kanimozhi, and 15 other highprofile politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen including Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra. Granting the CBI ‘leave to appeal’ (permission to appeal), Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma said the ‘contradictions’ in the trial court’s judgment require a ‘deeper examination’. “The court on the basis of material on record, and after going through the sworn testimonies, material on record, impugned judgment and the submissions made at bar by both the parties has reached on an objective satisfaction that there is a prima facie case which requires deeper examination and re-appreciation/re-appraisal of entire evidence,” Justice Sharma said in the order. On December 21, 2017, special CBI judge O P Saini had acquitted all the accused saying the prosecution failed to produce ‘legally admissible evidence’ against the accused. The CBI then approached the Delhi HC on March 20, 2018 challenging the judgment. VOICES I vehemently condemn the arrest. It’s outrageous that elected opposition CMs are being deliberately targeted Mamata Banerjee, TMC Where is democracy in this country? In Russia, (Vladimir) Putin got 88 per cent votes. They (BJP) are following Putin’s path Bhagwant Mann, AAP He got arrested due to his deeds... I had asked him to stay away from this (excise policy) issue. He didn’t Anna Hazare, activist I R E D DY S R I N I VAS R E D DY @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday refused to grant any immediate relief to BRS MLC K Kavitha, arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for her alleged involvement in a money laundering case arising out of the Delhi liquor scam. Refusing to comment on the merits of the case, a threejudge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and comprising Justices MM Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi, directed Kavitha to ap- DEEP POCKETS @ Hyderabad Minister Atishi with AAP workers being detained during a protest at ITO against the arrest of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi on Friday | PARVEEN NEGI KEJRIWAL KINGPIN OF EXCISE SCAM, SAYS ED U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE ED on Friday told the Rouse Avenue court here that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was intrinsically involved in the entire conspiracy to frame Delhi’s new excise policy in such a way that certain private persons were favoured in a quid pro quo to get kickbacks. The ED alleged that the proceeds of the crime — as much as `45 crore — were used in the election campaign of AAP for Goa. Explaining Kejriwal’s role in the case, the ED said he is the ultimate in-charge of AAP and was directly involved in the formulation of the excise policy “This policy was being drafted considering . the favours to be granted to the South Group and was formed in collusion with Vijay Nair, Manish Sisodia and members-representatives of the South Group,” the ED said in its remand application. The ED said Kejriwal’s role in the formulation of the policy was evident from the statement of two persons — C Arvind, the then Secretary of former deputy CM Manish Sisodia, and Butchibabu, CA of Kavitha Kalvakuntla. Arvind revealed that he was handed over the draft GoM report by Sisodia at Kejriwal’s residence where former minister Satyendar Jain was also present. The document mentioned that wholesale licence should be given to private players and profit margin was fixed at 12%. As per ED, these points were never discussed in GoM meetings. Arvind prepared a draft and handed it over to Sisodia. Later it was submitted before the cabinet. As for Butchibabu, WhatsApp messages from his phone revealed certain provisions of the excise policy two days before it was finalised by the council of ministers. No relief to Kavitha as SC asks her to move trial court for bail S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y Party no bar, politics bonds leaders and business groups proach the trial court for bail. The bench made it clear that her bail plea shall be decided expeditiously by the trial court. The apex court, however, issued a notice to the ED on Kavitha’s plea challenging against provisions of the PMLA. Seeking bail in the case, senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kavitha, told the court: “See what is happening in the country All the statements . are by approvers. I am very upset as counsel.” After hearing this, the court urged Sibal to not get carried away and or be overcome by emotions. Robbers underestimate mom-girl duo, arrested E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Hyderabad A day after a woman, who was trained in martial arts, and her daughter displayed exemplary courage to thwart an armed robbery and disarm the robbers, police on Friday nabbed the second accused in the case while he was trying to flee on a train. Begumpet police identified the two accused as Sushil Kumar and Premchandra, hailing from Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh. Sushil had earlier worked in Amita Mahnot’s residence at Paigah Colony in Begumpet as a domestic help and was familiar with the house. On Thursday posing as a delivery agent and his face covered by , a helmet, Sushil called Amita near the gate. Amita sent a domestic help to take the parcel. Sushil and Premchandra, wearing a mask and a cap, pushed the domestic help aside and barged into the house. Inside, PremchanCONTINUED ON P5 dra threatened the maid with a knife. Kejriwal’s arrest is a black day in our democratic history. The recent arrests of Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and BRS MLC Kavitha prove that the ruling BJP at the Centre is acting with the sole intention of destroying the opposition K Chandrasekhar Rao, BRS president EXPRESS READ HYD MAYOR CONG BOUND? Hyderabad: Hyd Mayor G Vijayalaxmi met Congress leaders on Friday, hinting at a switch of allegiance | P3 BRS FIELDS EX-IAS, EX-IPS Ex-IAS officer P Venkatram Reddy and RS Praveen Kumar, a former IPS officer, have been given BRS tickets | P4 The Excise policy was being drafted considering the favours to be granted to the South Group and was formed in collusion with Vijay Nair, Sisodia and members of the South Group ED application THERE appears to be a certain, albeit confounding, method behind the donations made to various political parties through electoral bonds. While some politicians, or the firms owned by them, made donations to even their rival parties, there also appear to be instances of electoral bonds being donated after specific actions. For example, P Sarath Chandra Reddy’s Aurobindo Pharma donated `5 crore to the BJP in 2022, just five days after he was taken into custody in connection with the Delhi liquor scam. What is more, another `25 crore was donated to the BJP through electoral bonds after Sarath Chandra Reddy turned approver in the same case. Also noteworthy is the fact that some Hyderabad-based companies were the major contributors to the BJP, and understandably the BRS. Leading the companies was the Megha group, which contributed a whopping `664 crore to the BJP alone. What is quite curious was that some businessmenturned-politicians made dona- `664 cr `195 cr BJP MEGHA GROUP `128 cr 94 cr BRS BJP BRS SOME OF THE OTHER MAJOR TELANGANA - BASED DONORS ARE `64 cr YSRCP CONG `1 cr BRS YASHODA HOSPITAL CONG Navayuga @ BJP Aurobindo @ BRS Aurobindo @ BJP Aurobindo @ TDP Rithwik Projects @ JD(S) Rithwik Projects @ Cong Rithwik Projects @ TDP Rajapushpa @ BRS MSN group @ BRS MSN group @ BJP BJP 2 cr CONG AAP `1 cr `55 crore `15 crore `34.5 crore `2.5 crore `10 crore `30 crore `5 crore `25 crore `20 crore `18 crore Source: Election Commission of India tions to parties across the political spectrum. For example, companies owned by BRS leaders made donations to other political parties too. A BJP leader made donations to the Congress and another politician donated to both parties. As per data released by the Election Commission of In- dia, the MSN group owned by the family members of BRS MP Manne Srinivas Reddy donated `20 crore to the BRS and `18 crore to the BJP . BRS RS member Bandi Parthasarathi Reddy’s Hetero group donated `10 crore to the BJP through electoral bonds. CONTINUED ON P4
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