HYDERABAD: Casino organizer Chikoti Praveen Kumar, who reportedly had ties to political leaders, Tollywood and Bollywood actors for organizing his casino business, helped political leaders transport huge sums of money not counted via hawala during elections, sources say.

A day after ED officials served notices on Praveen asking him to appear before agency officials for questioning on Monday, the agency began tracking his activities. illegal with technical evidence.

It emerged on Friday that a Sampath, who works in the transport sector, is a close associate of Praveen in his alleged illegal activities. Sources said that the investigative agency, which has obtained proper evidence in relation to Praveen’s illegal activities, particularly hawala dealings of unaccounted money, is likely to serve notices on some Tollywood actors, except for the political leaders of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Agency officials reportedly verified four of the accused’s bank details and transactions. It was revealed that the casino organizer, with the help of his close associate Sampath, had good connections with politicians and movie actors to organize casinos in different locations.

It was also reported that Praveen had spent considerable sums to purchase valuable gifts to present to VVIPs including IPS officers in the two Telugu states. “Based on Praveen’s call data, the agency received information about people who were in regular contact with the defendant. Interestingly, some of their cell phone numbers went unanswered and turned off,” sources said.

The investigative agency also obtained details of birthday celebrations from Praveen who spent huge sums of money inviting political leaders. The agency is likely to approach several airline offices for a list of passengers who have traveled by flights to different countries from Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai, Goa and other overseas locations to attend events. casino. Praveen has also reserved travel facilities for its customers, we learn.

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