ENFORCEMENT Directorate (ED) sleuths are zooming in on yet another Rao in the Rs 133-crore urea scam. This time, the link in the chain is Madhav—brother-in-law of Prabhakar Rao, the eldest son of former prime minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.
This fortnight, Madhav Rao was summoned to the ED office in New Delhi. The context: his role in negotiating the Rs 14-crore Nampally land deal, reportedly on behalf of his powerful kinsman. Not just that. Madhav reportedly told his examiners that besides Nampally, he had negotiated several benami deals on behalf of Prabhakar Rao.
Officials involved with the interrogation say Madhav Rao had negotiated the Nampally deal with a broker named Datta Rao. He said the payment was made through hawala money stashed in the Grindlays Bank account of Sambasiva Rao, the other urea accused, declared 'absconding' after he failed to respond to the showcause notice issued by the Directorate.
The two-acre plot in a prime area in Hyderabad was purchased by a private limited company, Sai Sree Projects, also owned by Sambasiva Rao. The land deal itself was nothing to write home about, until investigators established the distinct possibility that it was financed by the urea kickbacks. The source in this case was traced to Dubai-based Edible Foods Limited.
According to estimates, Rs 2.5 crore were brought in from Dubai and later credited in the current account of Sai Sree Investments Limited. The hawala transaction was reportedly organised through Rajen-dra Bhavnani, who is now based in Dubai. Bhavnani—described as a key hawala operator—slipped out of India on June 3 this year, after the urea scam came to light.
Enforcement officials say the owners of the Nampally land had issued money receipts to Sam-basiva Rao. "The receipts will help us to establish the hawala transaction," an official points out. That Madhav Rao's statements were taken seriously was proved next day when the Directorate summoned Prabhakar Rao for a grilling that lasted several hours.
The other accused whose statements assume significance is Anand Mohan, son of a former officer on special duty (OSD) in the PMO. The Hyderabad-based Mohan is a close business associate of Sanjeeva Rao, who, again, is a relative of Narasimha Rao.
Enforcement officials say that after the 50-odd interrogations conducted so far in the urea case, Sanjeeva Rao's involvement has become more or less clearly established. According to them, documents recovered during raids in Hyderabad prove that all the prime accused used the hawala conduit contravening FERA laws. They also hint that the roles played by Madhav Rao and Anand Mohan in several financial manipulations in the urea scam on behalf of the Rao family have been deciphered.
