BELLARY: The Reddy clan and the town of Bellary woke up to a rude shock early on Monday, with former Tourism Minister and mining baron G Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law and MD of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) B V Srinivas Reddy being arrested by the CBI.Though the arrest was expected, nobody had believed it would take place so soon. The CBI probing into illegal mining in the Karnataka-Andhra border region since 2009, had recently written to the AP Govt that the investigation report would be filed in September. What’s curious is that the arrest came within 24 hours of the resignation of B Sriramulu, a close associate of the Reddy brothers, from the Karnataka Assembly.The release of the Lokayukta report on Illegal mining which cost former Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa his job recently, had detailed irregularities committed by OMC.A 10-member CBI team led by Joint Director V V Lakshminarayana took Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy into custody at 7.35 am on Monday, after which they were taken to Hyderabad.Meanwhile, another team of five officials continued inspection of documents at Reddy’s house, where they made several seizures (see box). Officials also questioned Janardhan Reddy’s wife Aruna Laxmi.Following allegations of large-scale illegal mining by OMC and Antargangamma Konda Mines owned by the Reddys, in addition to BIOP and Mahabaleshwar Mining Company in the Karnataka-Andhra border areas, the AP Government led by then Chief Minister K Rosaiah had sought an investigation by the CBI in 2009. In this connection, the CBI visited the border area five times, collected samples of iron ore and conducted tests on its grade. The sleuths also determined the extent of exported material in the border area and went through documents pertaining to lease sketches from the departments of Forest, Mines and Geology to build their case.
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