Formula E race: BRS leader K T Rama Rao submits statement to ACB after lawyer denied entry

High drama unfolded at the Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau office here on Monday after BRS Working President K T Rama Rao, who was summoned in connection with the ongoing investigation into Formula E race case, was denied the company of his lawyer, prompting him to submit his statement outside the office. Rama Rao reached the ACB headquarters shortly after 10 AM and was barred from entering the premises by the police, who objected to the presence of his lawyer.

The BRS leader, also known as KTR, said he handed over a written statement intended for submission to an ACB official, outside the office.

Asserting his fundamental right to legal representation KTR told media that he insisted on his lawyer’s presence.

The BRS leaders further claimed that the ACB was planning to conduct raids at his residence.

“Now they (officials) are saying you can’t take the lawyer inside. So, I have given my statement whatever I had to give inside the office, I have given my statement to the DSP rank officer of ACB. He has given me acknowledgement,” he said. He also insisted that he would provide all the information the ACB asked for in the presence of his lawyer. “… they have in the past created situations where things (statements) which have not been mentioned by our leaders were attributed to them,” Rama Rao claimed. Rama Rao expressed concern over being denied the company of his lawyer during the inquiry by the ACB and said the state government might manipulate his statements similar to what happened with former BRS MLA Patnam Narender Reddy.

Narender Reddy was arrested in connection with an attack on government officials in Vikarabad district in November last year.

Rama Rao said he suspected that the ACB was acting under the directives of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.

Last week, the Telangana ACB served a notice to the BRS MLA to appear before it on January 6 after he was named as prime accused in the FIR.

The ACB on December 19 registered a case against Rama Rao over alleged payments, some of it in foreign currency without approvals, to conduct the race in 2023 during the previous regime.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act and IPC dealing with criminal misappropriation, criminal misconduct, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy that allegedly resulted in loss to the government exchequer to the tune of about Rs 55 crore.

Though the race was supposed to be held in February 2024 as well, it was cancelled after the Congress government assumed office in December 2023.

Rama Rao, who was Municipal Administration Minister during the previous BRS regime, was also summoned by the ED for questioning on January 7 over alleged irregularities in conducting the race in Hyderabad.