The large-scale illegal mining in Karnataka, which is spilling over to Andhra Pradesh, has started taking its toll, with the first arrests by the CBI of Mr Gali Janardhana Reddy, a mining baron and former Tourism Minister of Karnataka, and Mr B.V. Srinivasa Reddy, Managing Director of Obulapuram Mining Corporation (OMC).
In an early morning swoop on the palatial ‘Kuteera', residence of Mr Reddy in Bellary town, about 350 km from Bangalore, a 12-member team of the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) took into custody Mr Janardhana Reddy. They also questioned his wife Aruna Lakshmi.
The CBI brought Mr Janardhana Reddy and Mr Srinivasa Reddy, his brother-in-law, to Hyderabad, produced them at the Nampally Court, where they were remanded to 14 days judicial custody.
The investigating agency found Rs 3 crore in cash and 30 kg of gold and what it called incriminating documents in the searches at the ‘Parijatha' residence of Mr Reddy in the posh Race Course Road in Bangalore. They seized documents and Rs 1.5 crore in cash from the OMC chief's residence.
Four personal helicopters of Mr Janardhana Reddy were impounded in Bangalore, Bellary and Hyderabad, on grounds that they were ‘benami', or owned by one of Mr Reddy's companies, sources said.
The powerful Reddy brothers — Janardhana, Somasekhara and Karunakara — allegedly built their fortunes from illegal mining. They operate in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. They face several cases and the former Lok Ayukta of Karnataka, Mr Santosh Hegde, presented a voluminous report recently, detailing the illegal mining activity.
The CBI Joint Director, Mr V.V. Lakshminarayana, said the duo has been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The Reddy brothers are facing cases in Andhra Pradesh and the OMC operations had run into trouble with various court cases against it, and the CBI itself registering a case in 2009 on allegations of illegal mining and irregularities in allotment of mining leases in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI action comes a day after the Reddy brothers' close associate and former minister, Mr B. Sreeramulu, resigned from his Karnataka Assembly.