Days after being on the run to escape the dragnet of law enforcing agencies, Bellary’s famous mining baron and former BJP minister G Janardhan Reddy was arrested on Sunday. The Karnataka Police have also arrested one Ali Khan, a close associate of Reddy.
Reddy, who was a minister in the BJP-led government headed by BS Yeddyurappa in the past, has spent three years in jail on corruption charges. He was on out on bail. During this year’s assembly elections, the court had directed him to not enter Bellary in order to ensure that he did not influence the polls.
Reddy had gone missing last week after the owner of a company alleged that he had paid him Rs 18 crore as a bribe when Reddy was a minister. The police raided his house in Bellary moments after the Congress-JDS combine breached the BJP bastion by winning the bypolls here.
Three days later he had appeared before the Crime Branch in Bengaluru for questioning. The police arrested him after the Crime Branch completed its grilling of the mining baron.
Reddy, one of the famous Reddy brothers who bankrolled BJP’s electionc ampaign in the past, was wanted by the Crime Branch the owner of a private company alleged that he had demanded a bribe of Rs 18 crore during his tenure as a minister in Karnataka’s BJP government. The said owner, one Syed Ahmed Fareed, had said that he had paid the money to a close aide of Reddy.
Fareed, who owned The Ambident Group, is facing a probe in connection of Rs 600 crore ponzi scam. The company is accused of having duped iits investors of Rs 600 crore.
During interrogation by the police, its owner Syed Ahmed Fareed, allegedly said Janardhan Reddy had met him at a private hotel in Bengaluru and promised help.
Reddy, according to PTI, came in a car to the Central Crime Branch office, along with his advocates, after releasing a video message from an unknown location, saying he would appear before it.
Last week, the Congress-JDS combine inflicted a humiliating defeat to the BJP in its bastion Bellary. The Crime Branch raids had taken place moments after the results of Bellary bypolls became public.