Hyderabad: In a dramatic development with a potential to impact the politics of the southern states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday arrested former Karnataka tourism minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy and his Obulapuram Mining Company's managing director B. Srinvas Reddy in Bellary town.
They have been arrested on the charges of illegal mining and exports of iron ore in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh and various other violations of conservation of forests act and mining act.
Later, a special court in Hyderabad sent Janardhana Reddy and Srinivas Reddy to judicial custody for 14 days.
The controversial businessman-turned-politician and a key figure in the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was arrested from his residence in Bellary during a raid by a CBI team led by joint director Lakshminarayana. At the same time the CBI also raided the residence of Srinivas Reddy and arrested him.
Later the CBI brought the duo to Hyderabad and presented them before the special CBI court where they were remanded to judicial custody. They will be lodged in Chanchalguda central jail, already home to another millionaire B. Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computers scam.
Another CBI team also raided the Aprajita apartment of Janardhan Reddy in Bangalore and seized four registers, a diary and a laptop. From the Bellary home of Janardhan Reddy, where the search continued for more than 12 hours, the CBI sized Rs30 million (Dh2.37 million) in cash and 30 kgs of gold. They also questioned his wife Aruna.
Bail plea rejected
Another amount of Rs10.5 million was seized from the house of Srinivas Reddy.
Soon after they were brought to Hyderabad, Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy were taken to the CBI office where they were questioned for more than two hours. At the court, the police had a great difficulty in keeping the battery of media persons at bay. Janardhan Reddy told the reporters that he was innocent. "The truth will ultimately prevail," he said.
Janardhan Reddy had fielded a battery of 11 lawyers to file a bail petition but the court rejected it.
The arrest of 43-year-old Janardhan Reddy followed long acrimonious controversies both in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where he faced the allegations of illegal mining and exports of iron ore to the tune of several billions. A committee of the Supreme Court had also found evidence of Janardhan Reddy's company violating the Forest Act by taking up illegal mining in forest area, going much beyond the area allotted to his company by the state government and also destroying the markers of boundaries between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The Obulapuram mining case was handed over to the CBI by the K. Rosaiah government last year.
The CBI moved against Janardhan Reddy at a time when the politically powerful Reddy brothers and their supporters were facing rough weather in Karnataka as the new Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda dropped Janardhan Reddy and his man Friday B. Sriramulu from the cabinet.
Incidentally Sriramulu tendered his resignation as the member of Karnataka Assembly in protest against Janardhan Reddy not getting a berth.
They have been arrested on the charges of illegal mining and exports of iron ore in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh and various other violations of conservation of forests act and mining act.
Later, a special court in Hyderabad sent Janardhana Reddy and Srinivas Reddy to judicial custody for 14 days.
The controversial businessman-turned-politician and a key figure in the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was arrested from his residence in Bellary during a raid by a CBI team led by joint director Lakshminarayana. At the same time the CBI also raided the residence of Srinivas Reddy and arrested him.
Later the CBI brought the duo to Hyderabad and presented them before the special CBI court where they were remanded to judicial custody. They will be lodged in Chanchalguda central jail, already home to another millionaire B. Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computers scam.
Another CBI team also raided the Aprajita apartment of Janardhan Reddy in Bangalore and seized four registers, a diary and a laptop. From the Bellary home of Janardhan Reddy, where the search continued for more than 12 hours, the CBI sized Rs30 million (Dh2.37 million) in cash and 30 kgs of gold. They also questioned his wife Aruna.
Bail plea rejected
Another amount of Rs10.5 million was seized from the house of Srinivas Reddy.
Soon after they were brought to Hyderabad, Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy were taken to the CBI office where they were questioned for more than two hours. At the court, the police had a great difficulty in keeping the battery of media persons at bay. Janardhan Reddy told the reporters that he was innocent. "The truth will ultimately prevail," he said.
Janardhan Reddy had fielded a battery of 11 lawyers to file a bail petition but the court rejected it.
The arrest of 43-year-old Janardhan Reddy followed long acrimonious controversies both in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where he faced the allegations of illegal mining and exports of iron ore to the tune of several billions. A committee of the Supreme Court had also found evidence of Janardhan Reddy's company violating the Forest Act by taking up illegal mining in forest area, going much beyond the area allotted to his company by the state government and also destroying the markers of boundaries between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The Obulapuram mining case was handed over to the CBI by the K. Rosaiah government last year.
The CBI moved against Janardhan Reddy at a time when the politically powerful Reddy brothers and their supporters were facing rough weather in Karnataka as the new Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda dropped Janardhan Reddy and his man Friday B. Sriramulu from the cabinet.
Incidentally Sriramulu tendered his resignation as the member of Karnataka Assembly in protest against Janardhan Reddy not getting a berth.
