The Lokayukta Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the illegal transport of iron ore below 50,000 tonnes to Belekeri port, conducted simultaneous searches on 14 premises in Ballari district and Bengaluru, including those belonging to former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, on Wednesday.
Charan Reddy, SIT chief, said the searches were conducted as part of the procedure after a new FIR was filed regarding a bunch of mining leases illegally taken over by Mr. Janardhan Reddy and his associates.
The case pertains to iron ore mined from these areas and illegally exported through Belekeri port. Mr. Charan said that they recovered some crucial documents from five of the 14 premises.
SIT officials, who had called Swastik Nagaraj, a close associate of Mr. Janardhan Reddy for questioning, arrested him on Tuesday evening. The searches were conducted based on information given by Nagaraj.
Mr. Janardhan Reddy’s residence in Ballari city, his flat ‘Parijatha’ at a posh apartment complex near Shivananda Circle in Bengaluru and two other premises linked to him were searched.
The SIT sleuths recovered two hard disks.
The team also searched the houses of Kurubara Nagaraj, a close associate of Kudligi MLA B. Nagendra, on Talur Road and that of Madhukumar, an associate of Mr. Janardhan Reddy, in Channapatna camp on the outskirts of the city. Kurubara Nagaraj was arrested by the SIT and released on bail.
The SIT sleuths also searched the houses of Swastik Nagaraj and Kharpudi Mahesh, who handled the illegal transportation of ore for Mr. Janardhan Reddy at Hospet, and also of Panthar Jayant, a BJP youth leader indulged in iron ore trading.
Both Swastik Nagaraj and Kharpudi Mahesh were arrested by the CBI and released on bail.
Janardhan Reddy’s properties were among the 14 premises searched by the SIT
