In yet another significant development in the liquor scam case that allegedly took place during the previous YSR Congress party regime in Andhra Pradesh, the special investigation team (SIT) has added Purushottam Varun Kumar, a key aide of Raj Kesireddy, as the 40th accused in the case.
The SIT filed a memo before the ACB Court in Vijayawada on Friday.
Varun Kumar, who fled abroad in July-August last year, is currently believed to be in the United States, according to SIT officials. Lookout notices have already been issued against him.
Varun Kumar, originally from Secunderabad, pursued engineering and worked at a coffee shop in Hyderabad earning Rs 32,000 per month. However, he was lured into the liquor scam by Raj Kesireddy’s network through an NRI doctor.
He was appointed as the Andhra Pradesh operations head of Leela Distilleries Pvt Ltd in Puducherry and used as a front to siphon off hundreds of crores of rupees. SIT officials found concrete evidence of this during the investigation.
Raj Kesireddy reportedly intimidated the directors and executives of SNJ Sugars and Products in Tamil Nadu to gain control over their associate company, Leela Distilleries. Through this company, he secured authorization for liquor supply and appointed Varun Kumar as its AP operations head.
A bank account was opened in Varun’s name with a cheque power of up to Rs 10 crore. Despite lacking basic infrastructure to manufacture liquor, Leela Distilleries received massive liquor supply orders from APSBCL.
Between June 2020 and March 2024, APSBCL deposited Rs 459 crore into Leela Distilleries' account over just 21 months.
The SIT found this volume of business highly suspicious, noting that funds were quickly routed to various accounts, many linked to shell companies involved in dubious transactions.
Consequently, Varun Kumar was added as an accused, and efforts are underway to extradite him to expose the scam.
