India's Aurobindo Pharma says director arrested by Enforcement Directorate

BENGALURU (Reuters) - India's federal financial crime agency has arrested P. Sarath Chandra Reddy, a director of Aurobindo Pharma Ltd, the drugmaker said in an exchange filing on Thursday.

Several media reports also said French spirits giant Pernod Ricard's Benoy Babu, an executive at its India business, was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

Pernod Ricard did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment, while Aurobindo did not respond to an email seeking details on the arrest.

Reddy's arrest is not connected with the operations of Aurobindo or its subsidiaries, the company said in a separate filing.

Shares in Aurobindo, which makes a range of medicines from antibacterials to antidepressants, fell over 7%.

Reddy, a business administration graduate, belongs to the promoter group of the company, which has manufacturing plants in the United States, Brazil and Portugal, according to its website.

Media reports also said Reddy and Babu were arrested in connection with the ED's investigation into the alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped liquor policy of the Delhi government.

The ED had, last month, raided several liquor companies, suppliers and distributors in a money laundering investigation, according to media reports.

(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)