After spending close to six months in Hyderabad's Chanchalguda prison, mining baron G. Janardhan Reddy is expected to appear before a special CBI Court in Bangalore at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Mr. Reddy, a prime accused in the State's illegal mining scam, will be entering the State for the first time since he was picked up by CBI sleuths from his Bellary manor on September 5, 2011.
While he was arrested in connection with the alleged illegal activities of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), the summons issued by the Bangalore CBI Court is in connection with the illegal activities of two more mining companies owned by him.
In September 2011, the Supreme Court expanded the scope of the illegal mining probe and asked the CBI to investigate the role played by Associated Mining Company (AMC) and Deccan Mining Syndicate (DMS) owned by Mr. Reddy.
In accordance with the court's order, the CBI in Karnataka filed an FIR against 21 persons, including Mr. Reddy and his wife, Aruna, in October 2011.
According to sources, the CBI's investigations in Karnataka have reached an advanced stage since the FIR was filed. During the court hearing in Bangalore on Friday, the CBI is expected to seek custody of Mr. Reddy for interrogation.
According to the findings of the Karnataka CBI, the AMC and the DMS became conduits for illegally mined ore that was earlier being transported in the name of the OMC.
After the OMC came under the CBI radar in 2009, Mr. Reddy allegedly purchased the AMC, which had a fairly small lease to mine in 16 hectares in Bellary. The ore was actually extracted by the OMC but was routed through this newly acquired company. Most of this ore was supplied to JSW Steel Ltd., a subsidiary of the Jindal group of companies, according to the CBI's FIR.
