Hyderabad: Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma has reportedly given his nod to probe former MA&UD minister KT Rama Rao (KTR) in connection with the alleged scam involving the payments amounting to Rs 55 crore made to a foreign company by his department during the Formula-E race held in Hyderabad in 2023 under the previous BRS government.
According to several local media reports, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had written to the Governor last month, seeking his nod to investigate KTR. With the Governor giving a go-ahead, all eyes are on ACB about what their next move could be.
The case revolves around alleged fund mismanagement involving Rs 55 crore allocated to the Formula E Operations (FEO) race, which was scheduled to be held earlier this year, but was cancelled after the foreign firms decided not to hold it in Hyderabad.
Formula E Race in Hyderabad: Guv’s approval sought to probe KTR over payments
The ACB suspects that fund transfers were made without necessary approvals to a foreign company, bypassing crucial protocols and without approval from the finance department or the cabinet’s nod.
A three-kilometre-long race track was laid around Necklace Road to hold the 9th edition of the Formula E race in February 2023. After the Congress government came to power, it found certain irregularities in the multiple payments made to one foreign company.
KTR calls charges ‘political vendetta’
Rubbishing the allegations as political vendetta, KTR dared the state government to arrest him, if he perpetrated any wrongdoing.
He stated that HMDA, the agency which conducted the race was an autonomous body and didn’t need the cabinet’s nod.
BJP leaders including Union minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar have been repeatedly questioning why the state government wasn’t arresting KTR in connection with the case.
The ACB had also sought the Governor’s permission to probe former MA&UD secretary Arvind Kumar and other higher officials in connection with the alleged scam.
