Mining baron and former Minister G. Janardhan Reddy, who was known for leading a flamboyant lifestyle, travelling by helicopter and swanky cars, spends much of his time poring over newspapers and watching television in his high security cell at the Bangalore Central Prison here.
Lodged at the Cell no. 5 in the High Security Block of Bangalore Central prison here ever since the special court remanded him in judicial custody earlier this month, Mr. Reddy, who has been allotted k haidi n o. 2816, rarely ventures out of his cell. He keeps himself occupied with news and other developments either through newspapers or television.
Food, clothes and other items of personal use are provided to him from his house here. “He rarely comes out of his cell. Even if he comes out, he does not mingle with other inmates or talk to them. He appears to be an introvert,” a prison official told The Hindu .
Mr. Reddy, the prime accused in the illegal mining case filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was arrested on September 5 in Bellary in connection with the illegal mining and irregularities in the allotment of leases to Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC). He was lodged in Chanchalguda prison in Andhra Pradesh and was shifted to Bangalore on March 2. He, along with his personal assistant Mehfuz Ali Khan, has been in the custody of CBI here since March 2.
Mehfuz Ali Khan is also lodged in the High Security Block at the central Prison, which is reserved for ‘white collared criminals' and trapped public servants.
Second class undertrial
Mr. Reddy and Mr. Ali are “second class” undertrial accused persons, an officer in the Prison Department told The Hindu .
Room allotment
While the room no 5 has been exclusively allotted to Mr. Reddy, his personnel assistant Ali Khan, who is khaidi no 2536 , is sharing room no 4 with six other “second class” white collared criminals. Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineer Idiya Vendon, Deputy Commissioner of Excise L.N. Mohan Kumar, USA citizen Pullen Malik and others are sharing the room no. 4 with Ali Khan, the officer said.
Ugadi
Four security officials guard the duo, along with other second class white collared criminals, round-the-clock. Mr. Reddy visited Raghavendra Swamy, Anjaneya Swamy, Ayyappa, Sri Krishna and other temples on the prison premises and offered puja on Ugadi day, he said.
Restrictions
Meanwhile, the prison authorities, as per the jail manual, have imposed certain restriction on the duo. “Mr. Reddy's daily routine involves nothing special. He is allowed to meet only six visitors a week,” the officer added.
The prison department is supplying Kannada and English newspapers to the mining baron besides arranging a television set.
Mr. Reddy, who owns Associated Mining Corporation (AMC) and Deccan Mining Syndicate (DMC), and his wife Aruna Lakshmi have been facing the probe over charges of illegal mining.
