By IANS,
Hyderabad: A special court here Monday sent former Karnataka minister and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy and Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) director B. Srinivas Reddy to judicial custody for 14 days in an illegal mining case.
The two, who were arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) early Monday at Bellary in Karnataka, were shifted to Chanchalguda Central Jail here amid tight security.
They were earlier produced before a CBI court at the Nampally Criminal Court complex. After hearing arguments for one-and-a-half hours, the judge sent the accused to judicial remand till Sep 19, said a CBI official.
The court adjourned to Sep 7 the hearing on the CBI’s petition seeking the custody of the accused for 15 days.
Janardhana Reddy’s counsel, during the arguments, alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the arrest. The counsel also termed the arrest “illegal” as Janardhana Reddy’s name is not included in CBI’s FIR as an accused.
It was also submitted before the court that Janardhana Reddy has nothing to do with the day-to-day functioning of OMC. The judge, however, asked his counsel to file a counter to the CBI’s petition by Wednesday.
Earlier, while being shifted from the CBI office to the court complex, Janardhana Reddy told reporters that he is innocent. “The truth always prevails,” he remarked.
The CBI shifted the accused from Bellary to Hyderabad amid tight security.
CBI joint director V.V. Lakshminarayana, who led a team of officers who arrested the two in Bellary, told reporters that they were held on the basis of evidence gathered by the agency.
“We will interrogate and collect more evidence,” he said, to queries if the CBI would arrest more accused.
The arrests were made in connection with a case registered by the CBI against OMC in 2009 for illegal mining in the forest area of Andhra Pradesh bordering Karnataka.
The powerful Janardhana Reddy, Srinivas Reddy and others were booked under penal provisions for criminal conspiracy, cheating and under various sections of mining and forests acts.