Bangalore: The CBI today arrested mining baron and former minister G Janardhan Reddy and Managing Director of Obalapuram Mining Company B V Srinivas Reddy after conducting raids at their premises.
Reddy, who was the Tourism and Infrastructure Development Minister in the previous B S Yeddyurappa government, was among those indicted by the Lokayukta report on illegal mining submitted to the Government on July 27.
CBI sources said the two were arrested this morning. The are allegations of irregularities in the mining activities of OMC which is owned by the brothers - G Karunakara Reddy, G Janardhana Reddy, G Somashekara Reddy.
About 65 mining companies including OMC are under the CBI scanner.
Earlier, a CBI team from Hyderabad searched Janardhan Reddy's house in Bellary in the wee hours and seized some documents from his residence. Sleuths also raided the premises of Srinivas Reddy here.
Sources said the CBI team led by its DIG, P V Lakshminarayana has taken Janardhana Reddy and Srinivasa Reddy to Hyderabad for further questioning.
The probe agency's action comes a day after Reddy's associate and former Karnataka minister B Sreeramulu resigned from his Assembly seat, protesting against the BJP's denial to give him ministerial berth and also keeping Bellary Reddy brothers out of the ministry.
CBI is also questioning Janardhan Reddy's wife in Bellary, the sources said.
In the wake of allegations of illegal mining and irregularities in allotment of mining leases to OMC in Obulapuram and Malpanagudi villages of Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district, the state government had ordered a CBI probe into the matter.
OMC has been accused of transporting ore in far excess of actual production, irregularities in granting of leases, encroaching upon mining areas belonging to Karnataka by crossing the inter-State boundaries.
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