The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) informed a court here on Wednesday that former Karnataka Minister and mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy was literally ruling his native Bellary district before he was arrested in September 2011.
Opposing bail for Janardhan Reddy, the CBI said he was certain to influence witnesses and threaten them not to speak against him in court if he was released from jail.
He and the other accused in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case had threatened people in the past to carry out illegal mining by encroachments into other licensed areas.
They resorted to arm twisting methods in the process.
It was only after Janardhan Reddy’s arrest that a large number of witnesses volunteered to provide information to the CBI about his activities.
However, the threat to the witnesses continued and some of them had to be provided security.
The followers of Janardhan Reddy were alleged to have recently set fire to the car of a prominent witness C. Sashi Kumar, brother of Endowments Minister C. Ramachandraiah, out of a grudge that he testified to the activities of the former to the CBI.
Janardhan Reddy also had a dubious relationship with his aide K. Mehfuz Ali Khan against whom investigation is still on.
Probe on
The investments of Khan and his associates in real estate are also being probed, the CBI said.
The court will hear arguments of both sides on Thursday.
Separately, the court took up the plea of Ramky chairman A. Ayodhya Rami Reddy that no deadlines be set for his foreign tours on business.
An initial deadline will expire on Thursday but the CBI opposed extension.
The court concluded the arguments on a petition by Emaar MGF Land expressing an intention to file a petition seeking discharge from Emaar township scam if CBI failed to prove the case against the company.
Charge sheet filed
The CBI counsel Balla Ravindranath argued on Wednesday that the investigating agency filed a charge sheet in the case because there were charges against the company.
It was left to the court to take a view.
Judgment on both the petitions has been reserved for next week.
