ED concludes 18-hour search operation; issues notices to casino organizer and his aide

Hyderabad: A day after conducting raids for over 18 hours at the houses of casino organizer Chikkoti Praveen Kumar in Saidabad and his aide Madhava Reddy in Bowenpally in connection Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) violations, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) issued separate notices to them asking to appear before it on Monday.

The ED officials, who carried out simultaneous raids at eight locations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since Wednesday morning concluded the process early on Thursday after seizing key documents including a laptop and issued notices to Kumar and Reddy.

A separate team carried out searches at Kumar’s farmhouse in Kadthal in Ranga Reddy district.

Kumar, who came out of his house after completion of ED searches, informed the media persons that the ED officials sought clarifications about some transactions. “I will appear before the ED on Monday to clarify the doubts,” he said, adding that organising casinos is legal in Goa and Nepal.

When scribes asked whether anyone was trying to target him, he said: “No one targeted me.”

Meanwhile, the ED officials are relying on the laptop that was seized during the raids at Kumar’s house to get more information about FEMA violations. It is learnt that Kumar was reportedly working as a hawala operator for a jewellery businessman based in Chennai.

A few more hawala operators from the city were allegedly assisting Kumar in continuing transactions in a hassle-free manner, sources said, adding that the possibility of issuing notices to the film actresses, who performed during the casino parties organised by Kumar, were bright.

The hawala operators played a crucial role in successfully completing the transactions at the casinos.