ACB court summons KTR, three others in Formula-E case

An ACB court in Hyderabad has summoned BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, and two others in connection with the Formula‑E race case.

Hyderabad: An Anti-Corruption Bureau court here on Thursday issued summons to BRS working president KT Rama Rao and three others in the Formula-E race case.

The court directed Rama Rao, senior IAS officer Arvind Kumar, former HMDA Chief Engineer BLN Reddy and sports consultant Kiran Malleswara Rao to appear on July 31.

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The ACB court took cognisance of the ACB’s charge sheet and admitted the case for trial. Formula E Operations (FEO) has also been named as an accused in the case.

The ACB officials alleged that around Rs 55 crore was transferred from Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority accounts to FEO in 2023 without mandatory approvals and in violation of established financial norms. Investigators had earlier questioned Rama Rao, Arvind Kumar, BLN Reddy, the FEO representatives, and several others, and recorded their statements during the probe.

The case has long been a political fault line between the ruling Congress and the BRS. While the Congress maintained the investigation concerns alleged misuse of public funds, BRS leaders dismissed it as a politically motivated exercise.

Senior BRS leaders alleged that the case was being deliberately revived to divert attention away from the POCSO case involving Bandi Sai Bageerath, son of union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

They accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of reviving a stale case to shield the BJP leader’s family and orchestrating selective leaks to sections of the media to sensationalise the issue.