A team of Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials from Bengaluru, led by ACP Manjunath Choudhary, have begun search operations at mining baron Janardhana Reddy's mansion in Ballari on Thursday.
The search is in connection with a money laundering case, in which Mr. Reddy has been accused of taking Rs. 20 crore to strike a deal with Enforcement Directorate officials to drop the case against the Bengaluru-based firm.
It is alleged that Syed Ahmed Fareed, founder of Ambidant Marketing Pvt. Ltd., paid Mr. Reddy ₹20 crore — ₹2 crore in cash and 57 kg of gold bullion worth ₹18 crore — by laundering it through two jewellery firms.
Mr. Fareed has been in the dock for cheating thousands of investors after he promised them high returns, but failed to deliver. It was while investigating the businessman that the police stumbled upon the payments made to Mr. Reddy.
Sources told The Hindu that the sleuths were in Ballari to trace the gold that is believed to have changed hands in the case.
The Bengaluru city police has launched a massive manhunt to trace Mr. Reddy, a former BJP Minister.
