Formula E race: ACB seeks legal opinion to book cases against KTR

Hyderabad: The Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) has sought legal opinion before filing cases against BRS working president and former MA and UD minister KT Rama Rao and the officials in the alleged Formula E-racing scam. The ACB is likely to consume some more time to initiate action against the leaders in the alleged misuse of funds in the conduct of the racing sport event in Hyderabad last year.

The preliminary investigation already revealed that Rs 55 crore were misused by releasing the funds to the agency directly without the consent of the State Finance Department. The officials of the probing agency said that former secretary to MA and UD wing Arvind Kumar admitted that Rs 55 crore were released on the instructions of the then MA and UD minister KT Rama Rao. The racing company utilised the funds for the conduct of the racing in Hyderabad last. Soon after coming to power, the Congress government cancelled the agreement entered between the government and the racing agency.

Based on a fresh complaint lodged by the MA and UD wings last week, the ACB sped up the probe in the Rs 200 crore racing project for the conduct of the E-racing.

The ACB found that the last government permitted the laying of a special track for the conduct of e-racing in February last year, and the agency hosted an e-car competition at Hussain Sagar premises. Greenco has spent Rs 150 crore and Hyderabad Racing Limited Rs 30 crore. HMDA has also spent Rs 20 crore to develop the road track and other infrastructure. The MA and UD officials also signed an agreement with Formula-E Operation (FEO) in October 2023 to hold it once again (session 10) on February 10, 2024. For this, HMDA has paid Rs 55 crore to the FEO.

Officials said that the ACB has already gathered the evidence to fix the former municipal minister, and the fresh intensified probe would help to bring out more details to confirm the role of the former minister in the scam with strong evidence. The government will order to book cases against KTR soon after the ACB completes the investigation.