The case in which the former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy was arrested on Friday is neither part of the Lokayukta report on illegal mining nor of the probe of illegal export of ore less than 50,000 tonnes through Belekeri port, referred to the Special Investigation Team.
The case dates back to 2007, when the then Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde had probed the case acting on a private complaint.
The case was then referred to the SIT from the Lokayukta’s office after its formation in 2014, for further action.
The allegations against Mr. Reddy are that he made the owner of Black Gold Mining Company, whose lease had expired in 2002, apply to the government in 2004 praying for permission to retrieve the iron ore that the company claimed to have mined before the expiry of the mining lease.
However, the initial probe has now revealed that Mr. Reddy not only retrieved, but also illegally mined high-ground iron ore from the lease area on behalf of the miner.
The FIR states that Mr. Reddy, colluding with unknown government officials, illegally mined and exported around 3 lakh tonnes of iron ore from the area, whose mining lease had expired. However, it is yet to be ascertained whether the ore was exported through Belekeri port or other ports, the police said.
Facts & Figures
* G. Janardhan Reddy, former Minister of Tourism and Infrastructure Development (2009-2011)
* Owns Obulapuram Mining Company in Anantpur district, Andhra Pradesh
* AP government orders CBI inquiry into illegal mining by his company in 2011
* CBI arrests him on Sept. 2011
* CBI registers another FIR relating to Associated Mining Company
* He spends over three years in prison
* Manages to get out of prison after Supreme Court grants bail on January 20, 2015
* One of the bail conditions barred him entry into Ballari, Anantpur and Kadapa districts
* Special Investigation Team formed by govt. in 2014
* Tasked with probing cases of illegal export of iron ore through
* Belekeri port of less than 50,000 tonnes
* SIT registers 13 cases against him, he secures interim anticipatory bail for all
* He moves petition before Supreme Court in October 2015, seeking relaxation in bail conditions
* Arrested by SIT in a new case on Friday
His second arrest in four years
On Friday, G. Janardhan Reddy may have had fleeting recollections of the wee hours of September 5, 2011, when he was rudely awakened by a large team of CBI officials, who searched his palatial house in Ballari and then arrested him.
Mr. Reddy had then spent over three years in Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad and Bangalore Central Prison at Parappana Agrahara, until he managed to secure bail in multiple cases and then walked out of prison in January 2015.
Barred from entering Ballari district as one of conditions for his bail granted by the Supreme Court on January 20, 2015, he has been keeping a low profile since then. Mr. Reddy was in his Parijatha Apartment in the heart of Bengaluru, and had been making trips to temples including Tirupati, to which he had donated a gold crown worth over Rs. 45 crore in 2009.
However, with Mr. Reddy moving a petition in the Supreme Court in October last week seeking permission to visit Ballari, the district was abuzz with rumours of his reported return to active politics. If this was indeed true, his plan has hit a roadblock, with his arrest on Friday.
