Who are the 'South Group' allegedly involved in the Delhi excise policy scam

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday night arrested Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the excise policy scam case. The ED filed a 10-day detention request at Rouse Avenue Court in the national capital, alleging that Kejriwal requested ₹100 crore from the South Group for Punjab elections.

Last year, allegations of AAP leaders accepting bribes from a group of southern politicians, whom the ED later designated as the 'South Group', surfaced.

In February 2023, the ED said that the Delhi excise policy scam was a result of AAP leaders working hand-in-glove with the so-called South Group.

According to ED, the leaders of a few political parties were found to be involved in the excise policy scam. Not just that, they were found utilising proxies, dummies, and a network of exchanges and transactions to disguise their involvement, according to the ED's remand report of Raghav Magunta, which was submitted in Delhi's Rouse Avenue Court on February 11, 2023.

The South Group includes YSRCP Ongole MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy (MSR), his son Magunta Raghava Reddy, and BRS MLC K Kavitha (represented by businessman Arun Ramachandra Pillai), as well as chartered accountant Butchibabu Gorantla, Hyderabad businessman Abhishek Boinpally, and leading pharmaceutical company director P Sarath Candra Reddy.

In a legal document filed against businessman Sameer Mahendru and AAP's communication in-charge Vijay Nair, the ED claimed that they acted in connivance with K Kavitha, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy, Raghav Magunta, and Sarath Reddy.

Furthermore, it stated that Mahendru and the South group planned with Nair to create the cartel to set up a smooth kickback system that would allow them to recoup the kickbacks that had been paid.

The arrest of the Delhi Chief Minister, the latest in the investigation, came when the ED arrived at his home late at night with a search warrant. The development came after Kejriwal failed to appear at their office despite the agency's ninth summon.