Tag: probe

Yechury questions Centre’s reluctance in allowing JPC to probe Adani issue

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Thiruvananthapuram: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Saturday lambasted the BJP-led government at the Centre for not allowing a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to examine the alleged “Adani scam” and charged that it is to hide the nexus between the corporate house and Prime Minister Narendra Modi dispensation.
If there is nothing to hide and nothing is wrong, why is the Modi government refusing to inquire into the scam? he asked.
Charging that the “communal corporate nexus” that has emerged under the Modi government is actually together destroying the foundational pillars of the Indian constitutional order, he also said the worst form of “crony capitalism” has developed under the BJP regime.
Yechury was speaking after inaugurating the culmination of the month-long “Jana Jagratha Yatra” led by party’s state secretary M V Govindan here highlighting the anti-people policies of the Centre.
“If there is nothing wrong, why they are not allowing a Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the said issue (Adani scam)? The JPC, according to Parliamentary norms, will be headed by the party that has maximum number of MPs which is BJP,” he said adding that but still they were afraid of the JPC.
Because, what is being hidden is the link between the corporate house and the Modi government and the truth of the crony capitalism, the Marxist veteran said.
If anybody questions the PM or the government, then they are immediately branded as anti-nationals and that is the most serious thing happening in the country now-a-days, the leader said giving the example of the recent BBC documentary on Gujarat riots.
“If you are questioning the Prime Minister, you are questioning India…you are anti-national….Any question of Modi is anti-national and any question of Adani is anti-national.”

Like the country had given a reply to the slogan “India is Indira and Indira is India” decades ago, he urged the people to give a firm reply to Narendra Modi also in the coming Lok Sabha polls.
India is neither Indira nor Modi-Adani but people of the country and it can be asserted only if this government at the Centre is removed from office, he said.
Noting that removing the Modi government from office is of paramount importance to defend the Constitutional order, democracy and democratic rights of people, Yechury said that is the most “patriotical duty” of all Indians today.
“And that is the final test of Indian nationalism and that is the final test of whether we are for the interest of India or for enemies of the country.”
The Left leader also alleged that the four foundational pillars of the Constitutional order-secular democracy, economic self-sovereignty, social justice and federalism-are facing threat under the BJP rule.
He claimed that there is much focus on the Pinarayi Vijayan-led LDF government in Kerala as the BJP and the central government are well aware that it is the only non-BJP state government in the country that is offering an alternative model for development.
There are a lot of false stories being spread to defame Kerala, but President Droupadi Murmu’s recent words praising the achievements of the state in various sectors is the befitting reply for that false propaganda, he added.
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#Yechury #questions #Centres #reluctance #allowing #JPC #probe #Adani #issue
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 18, 2023
Excise policy scam: ED summons Sisodia’s PA to join probe

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New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday summoned Devender Sharma, the personal assistant of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, for questioning in connection with the now-scrapped excise policy scam case.
Sharma has been asked to appear before the ED on Saturday by 10 a.m.
A source said there are probabilities of confronting him with Sisodia.
The ED has already got Sisodia’s custody for five more days.
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The ED had earlier said in the court that during questioning, former Secretary C. Arvind, Excise Secretary Arava Gopi Krishna and Sanjay Goyal were confronted together.
The ED, while seeking more custodial remand of Sisodia, has said that C. Arvind had to be confronted again. Apart from him, the ED wants to confront witness Dinesh Arora, and an accused Amit Arora.

The ED has said that it has recovered huge cloud data which they were looking into. It also sought to know about the cell phones of all the accused which went missing.
As of now, the ED has filed two chargesheets in connection with the matter.
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#Excise #policy #scam #summons #Sisodias #join #probe
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 17, 2023
SC asks Telangana police not to continue probe into BRS MLAs poaching case

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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Telangana police not to continue its investigation into the alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs allegedly by the BJP.
The development comes after the apex court, earlier this week, asked the CBI to not begin its probe in accordance with the Telangana High Court direction.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the Telangana Police, contended before a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and M.M. Sundresh that on the last date of hearing on March 13, the matter was mentioned for hearing as no formal notice was issued. The apex court said the Telangana Police can’t continue with its probe, while issuing notice to the central agency, the BJP and others.
On March 13, the Supreme Court said the CBI should put on hold its investigation into alleged criminal conspiracy behind an attempt to poach BRS MLAs allegedly by the BJP, while hearing an appeal filed by the Telangana Police against the high court order in the matter.
The top court orally observed that the CBI should not proceed with the matter, while listing the matter for further hearing in July.
Dave had vehemently opposed transfer of probe to the CBI. The top court was informed that the case materials have not been handed over to the central agency so far. The bench said it is making it very clear that the CBI probe should not be continued while the matter is sub-judice.
Earlier, Dave had argued that the consequences of transferring the case to the CBI, which was allegedly under Centre’s control, would be serious. He had submitted that it would go to the heart of democracy.
A division bench of the Telangana High Court on February 6 upheld the earlier order of a single judge on December 26, 2022 transferring the case to the CBI. The Telangana Police had moved the apex court challenging this order.

The plea argued that the high court did not appreciate that the CBI directly works under the Centre and is under the control of the office of the Prime Minister and the Home Ministry. The state government alleged the involvement of some top BJP leaders to poach its four MLAs, was an attempt to topple the government.
The plea said: “The Bharatiya Janata Party is in power in the Central government and the allegations in the FIR are squarely and directly against the said party adopting illegal and criminal steps and methods to destabilize the Government of Telangana, the Hon’ble High Court therefore could not have entrusted the investigation to CBI in any case.”
“The High Court has unnecessarily drawn conclusion that release of the CD by the Chief Minister on November 3, 2022 amounted to interference with the investigation and therefore concluded that investigation was not fair and violated the rights of accused for fair investigation.”
Three persons – Ramachandra Bharati alias Satish Sharma, Nandu Kumar and Simhayaji Swamy, named as accused – have already been granted bail.
According to the FIR, MLA Rohith Reddy alleged that the accused in October last year, offered him Rs 100 crore for leaving the BRS.
It was also alleged that they asked Reddy to bring some more BRS MLAs by offering Rs 50 crore each to join the BJP.
In November last year, the state government had formed an SIT, comprising state police officers to investigate the matter.
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#asks #Telangana #police #continue #probe #BRS #MLAs #poaching #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 17, 2023
House GOP panel launches probe into Air Force’s ‘unauthorized’ record disclosures

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“In late February 2023, media reports highlighted how the OSAF improperly disclosed Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) of 11 servicemembers without appropriate authorization or lawful consent. The [Office of the Secretary of the Air Force] reportedly released the personnel files of at least two Members of Congress to an opposition research firm that received money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC),” they wrote.
“While the Air Force has rightfully taken responsibility for these inappropriate OMPF disclosures, questions remain unanswered about the U.S. Air Force’s collection, maintenance, and dissemination of this sensitive information,” their letter to Kendall continued.
Other panels, including the House Armed Services and Oversight committees, have sought details from the Pentagon on the disclosures.
POLITICO first reported that the Air Force had notified at least two sitting House Republicans — Reps. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) — that it had improperly released their personnel military records to a third party.
In the case of Bacon, a letter last month from the Air Force identified Abraham Payton of the Due Diligence Group, a research firm with Democratic ties, as “inappropriately” requesting and successfully obtaining these records.
Payton, according to the letter, said he was seeking the records for employment and benefit purposes, but the Air Force acknowledged such records were released without their authorization, which is protected under the Privacy Act of 1974. The letter noted that Payton was already in possession of the Nebraska Republican’s social security number when filling out the information request form.
Other GOP candidates from last cycle have shared that they were similarly notified by the Air Force that Payton, a former research director for the Democratic group American Bridge, was behind such requests for their records. They include Sam Peters, a Republican who challenged Rep. Steven Horsford (D-Nev.) in November, and Kevin Dellicker, who fell short in the GOP primary race to take on Rep. Susan Wild (D-Pa.).
Such efforts by Due Diligence Group included more than one military branch, with Payton attempting to get records on Colin Schmitt, who is currently serving in the New York National Guard and who challenged Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) in the general election last cycle for the state’s 18th district, according to a copy of the request form.

The Air Force said last month that an internal investigation it launched after POLITICO reported on former GOP candidate Jennifer-Ruth Green’s military records in October — when she was challenging Rep. Frank Mrvan (D-Ind.) in a battleground district — found that the private records of 11 individuals were improperly disclosed to a third party.
Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek has said that “virtually all” of the 11 unapproved releases were made to the same third party “who represented himself as a background investigator seeking service records for employment purposes.”
It is unclear if Payton was behind all of the 11 Air Force requests. Nunn has not publicly disclosed if Payton was the individual who sought his military personnel records, and Green has confirmed only that Due Diligence sought hers.
The other individuals affected by the Air Force records releases are not publicly known. But the House Armed Services and Oversight committees are also inquiring about the matter, with Armed Services Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) vowing last week to keep chasing down details of the disclosures.
POLITICO was told by the person who gave it Green’s military records last year that they were obtained through a public records request. POLITICO reviewed the request for the records made by a third party, which sought a “publicly releasable/redacted copy of OMPF [Official Military Personnel File] per Freedom of Information Act statutes.” The requester identified the purpose of the request as relating to “benefits,” “employment” and “other.”
POLITICO also reviewed the letter sent in response to the requester. A military employee responded with a password-protected version of the file with limited redactions. After publication, the Air Force said it erred in releasing the records and launched an investigation.
Bacon said last month that Air Force Secretary Kendall informed him that material from the Air Force’s internal investigation into the records releases was turned over to the Justice Department for possible further action. And Schmitt is joining all five GOP Air Force veterans in calling for a DOJ inquiry into whether political research crossed into criminal activity.
The Justice Department has declined to comment on questions related to the existence or the status of a possible investigation into the unauthorized disclosures, but in a statement on Sunday, a DOJ spokesperson said they are “aware of the concerns raised” and that the department has been “communicating with the U.S. Air Force about this matter.”
Stewart and Jordan also asked for the Air Force to turn over requests made by DDG from the start of January 2021 to the present, all the notifications to affected servicemembers that their information was improperly impacted, documents related to its policies on record disclosure policies, and files on any internal investigations into the matter.
“My proudest years were spent defending our great nation in the Air Force. It’s a shame to see this sacred branch of our government weaponized, but we will right this wrong,” tweeted Stewart, a member of the Republican-led subcommittee, arguing that they will “demand accountability.”

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#House #GOP #panel #launches #probe #Air #Forces #unauthorized #record #disclosures
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

March 17, 2023
TSPSC leaks: Telangana BJP chief on one-day hunger strike demanding judicial probe

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Hyderabad: Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president Bandi Sanjay Kumar will sit on a day-long hunger strike at the state party headquarters on Friday demanding that the state government order a judicial inquiry by a sitting high court judge into the leakage of the examination paper of the recruitment test conducted by the Telangana State Public Service Commission.
Sanjay also demanded the immediate sacking of state information technology minister KT Rama Rao from the cabinet, as his IT department had ‘failed to prevent the leakage of the question paper’, besides a complete overhaul of the TSPSC and payment of compensation of Rs 1 lakh to each of the unemployed youth who had suffered due to cancellation of the examination.
Before commencing the hunger strike, the BJP president would go to the Telangana martyrs’ memorial at Gun Park in front of the state assembly at 10 am to pay homage to the martyrs. “This is to highlight the fact that the K Chandrasekhar Rao government has belittled the sacrifices made by over 1400 youth for the sake of Telangana state,” a press note from BJP said.
Later, Sanjay would sit on a protest hunger strike from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm at the party office, the party said.
On Thursday morning, the BJP president went to Chanchalguda Central Prison to call on the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha leaders, who were arrested while protesting at the TSPSC office on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters later, Sanjay strongly condemned the lathi-charge and arrest of BJYM state president Bhanu Prakash and others who were doing a ‘peaceful’ protest over the leakage of the TSPSC question paper. “While the accused in the leakage case are being given the royal treatment, those who took part in the protests are subject to harassment,” he alleged.
The Begum Bazaar police arrested seven activists of Bhartiya Janata Yuva Morcha for rioting and damaging public property at the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) during the protest on Tuesday.
Sanjay sought to know how the question paper was leaked without the knowledge of the TSPSC chairman. “In fact, the TSPSC officials should be prosecuted first. The constitution of an SIT is just a hoax as it would not serve any purpose. Many SITs constituted in the past did not yield any results,” he said.

Stating that the entire episode was a ‘drama’ enacted by KCR’s son KT Rama Rao, Sanjay wondered why the state government was hesitating to order a judicial probe by a sitting high court judge.
Stating that the ‘failure’ of KTR is clearly evident in the entire episode, Sanjay said the Information Technology department, headed by KTR had miserably failed to prevent leakage of the question paper. “It is shameless on the part of KTR to say that the BJP has a role in the leakage, on the pretext that one of the arrested Rajasekhar has connections with the BJP,” he said.
He pointed out that Rajasekhar had been an employee of Telangana State Technology Services, which is part of the IT department headed by KTR. “What is KTR doing instead of identifying such people? He is unfit to be a minister,” he said.
Sanjay said Rajasekhar had nothing to do with the BJP. “Many people come to me to take selfies. Does it mean I have connections with all of them?” he asked.
He alleged out that the mastermind behind the question paper leakage Renuka has connections with the Bharat Rashtra Samithi. “Her mother is a sarpanch of BRS. Her brother is a BRS leader. So, for whose benefit the question paper was leaked?” he asked.
He demanded that all those, including the TSPSC chairman, be sacked and stringent action be taken against them. “The government should conduct recruitment tests as scheduled,” he said.
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#TSPSC #leaks #Telangana #BJP #chief #oneday #hunger #strike #demanding #judicial #probe
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
2020 Delhi riots: Court rejects anticipatory bail of accused, probe ordered

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New Delhi: A court here has rejected the anticipatory bail of an accused in a case pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots and directed the Delhi Police to conduct a proper investigation into the case.
The court was hearing the pre-arrest bail plea of Sunder against whom Bhajanpura police station had registered a case for various offences, including for rioting and arson.
“The report (by the investigating officer) shows that till the time of moving this application, the applicant remained untraceable by the police. Moreover, his name has been taken by several eyewitnesses and he is also reported to be appearing in the video footage and in these circumstances, I do not find the applicant entitled to pre-arrest bail,” Additional Sessions Judge Pulastya Pramachala said in an order passed on Wednesday.
The court rejected the argument of Sunder’s advocate that the applicant was granted bail in two other cases registered at the same police station, saying it could not be a “guiding factor” to decide the bail application in the present case.
“At the same time, I am not very much satisfied with the kind of investigation done in the case, wherein no attempt has been made to recover any looted materials. Hence, the matter is referred to the station house officer (SHO) to ensure that a proper investigation is done in this case…IO shall hand over a copy of this order to SHO for compliance,” the court said.
The court noted the IO’s reply, according to which Sunder had joined the investigation on March 6 and allegedly in his disclosure statement, he confessed to having looted and vandalised several stores, including mobile phone shops.
“But surprisingly neither anything has been said about an attempt made to recover the looted articles, nor the requirement of further investigation or interrogation of the applicant and on the contrary, IO reports that custodial interrogation is not required,” the court said noting the reply.
The court also noted that the IO said nothing has been done to recover the looted articles.

(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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#Delhi #riots #Court #rejects #anticipatory #bail #accused #probe #ordered
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
Kavitha likely to skip ED probe in Delhi excise policy case

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New Delhi: K. Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who was all set to join the investigation of Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Delhi excise policy scam case, is likely to skip the summon.
Sources said that she gave a letter to the ED on Wednesday saying her issue was pending before the Supreme Court and hence she needs time.
During her first appearance, she was reportedly confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai, who had represented the South Group which allegedly gave kickbacks of Rs 100 crore to the AAP leaders allegedly used during the Goa Assembly polls.
Pillai has reportedly said that he was Kavitha’s associate.
On Wednesday, the ED recorded the statement of Buchchi Babu, the BRS MLC’s former auditor and also a member of the South Group.
Kavitha has maintained that she has never met former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who has been arrested by the CBI and the ED in connection with the case, claiming that her name was being unnecessarily dragged into the matter.
According to the ED, Kavitha is also one of the representatives of South Group in the excise policy case.

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#Kavitha #skip #probe #Delhi #excise #policy #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
MP: Violence breaks out in Mhow over death of tribal woman, probe ordered

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Bhopal: Tension prevailed in Indore’s Mhow on Thursday following violent protests over the suspicious death of a tribal woman even as the government ordered a magisterial inquiry.
Over six police personnel, including an inspector, were injured in the stone pelting done by the protesters.
On Wednesday, a 23-year-old tribal woman, who was preparing for competitive exams, was found dead in a rented room. Alleging that the woman was gang-raped and murdered, the family members staged a protest while keeping the body on the road.
Upon receiving information, local police reached the protest spot and tried to disperse the assembled people. However, the angry mob pelted stones at the police. Subsequently, police had to use teargas and fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd.
“Six cops were injured due to stone pelting. The situation was brought under control, however, police personnel have been deployed in the area. Woman died under suspicious circumstances following which her family staged protests. The woman was living in a rented room for her studies,” Indore SP (Rural) Bhagwant Singh Virde said.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter, according to a statement issued by his office on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath has sent a team of tribal MLAs of the party to the area. The Congress leaders are likely to visit the family.
“Murder after gang-rape of a tribal girl in Mhow of Indore district and murder of a tribal youth in police firing has proved the jungle raj is prevalent in Madhya Pradesh. I am pained, distressed by this heartbreaking incident and stand with the aggrieved tribal families in this hour of grief,” Kamal Nath said.

(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)]
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#Violence #breaks #Mhow #death #tribal #woman #probe #ordered
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 16, 2023
TSPSC paper leak: Accused is BJP worker, claims BRS; KTR asks for probe

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Hyderabad; The BRS party on Wednesday alleged that the second accused A Rajashekhar Reddy is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and has put out photos of him wearing the saffron party’s shawl along with social media posts in support of the party.
Responding to BRS leader Jagan Patimeedi’s post claiming the same, Telangana minister KT Rama Rao said that just to malign the state government, the BJP seems to have hatched a ‘conspiracy’. He asked the state DGP to investigate this matter thoroughly.
“Even by the very low standards of BJP, this is vulgarity at its worst Just to malign Telangana Govt, BJP seems to have hatched a conspiracy to destroy the lives of innocent youth I request the @TelanganaDGP Garu to enquire this matter thoroughly and bring perpetrators to justice,” he tweeted.
Even by the very low standards of BJP, this is vulgarity at its worst
Just to malign Telangana Govt, BJP seems to have hatched a conspiracy to destroy the lives of innocent youth
I request the @TelanganaDGP Garu to enquire this matter thoroughly and bring perpetrators to… https://t.co/kZnCg0GRWH
— KTR (@KTRBRS) March 15, 2023
Raja Sekhar worked as a network administrator at TSPSC.
The accused persons P Praveen Kumar (32) Assistant Section Officer (ASO) at TSPSC, A Raja Sekhar (35), a network administrator at TSPSC, Renuka (35) a school teacher, L Dhakya (38) a technical assistant, K Rajeshwar (33), K Neelesh Nayak (28), P Gopal Nayak (29), K Srinivas (30) and K Rajendra Nayak (31) had been arrested by the Begum Bazaar police with the assistance of Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force (Central) team on Monday.
Praveen, who works at TSPSC, contacted Raja Sekhar for the question paper of the Assistant Engineer (Civil) and both of them allegedly managed to get the paper from the confidential section of the TSPSC by hacking into a computer of the section officer in charge of custody of the question paper.
They allegedly transferred the 25 papers into a pen drive from the computer and later handed it over to Renuka and her husband Dhakya, who paid them Rs 5 lakh initially on March 2 and another Rs 5 lakh on March 6. Dhakya on getting the papers informed about it Rajeshwar Nayak, his relative who tried to make money, contacted Neelesh and Gopal, who were appearing for the exam, and discussed the possibility of striking a deal for the leaked exam question paper.
“After fixing the deal for Rs 13.5 lakh, Rajeshwar, and Dhakya handed over the question paper to Neelesh and Gopal who appeared for the exam. Both Srinivas, a constable working at Medchal police station, and Rajendra had helped the candidates,” DCP (Southwest) Kiran Khare said.

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#TSPSC #paper #leak #Accused #BJP #worker #claims #BRS #KTR #asks #probe
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 15, 2023
Kavitha’s ex-auditor joins ED probe in Delhi excise policy scam case

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New Delhi: Buchchi Babu, the former auditor of BRS MLC K. Kavitha, on Wednesday joined the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) probe in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy scam case.
Buchchi Babu was earlier arrested by the CBI in excise case.
He was later granted bail by a Special CBI court and is now being grilled by the ED.
Meanwhile, Kavitha, the daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, was grilled by the ED for eight hours on March 11 in connection with the case.
She is slated to appear for the second round of questioning on Thursday.
Last time, she was reportedly confronted with Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Pillai, who had representing the South Group which allegedly gave ickbacks of Rs 100 crore to AAP leaders which were allegedly used in the Goa Assembly polls.
Pillai has reportedly said that he was an associate of Kavitha.

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#Kavithas #exauditor #joins #probe #Delhi #excise #policy #scam #case
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 15, 2023