The raid on Reddy’s house and on Mantri Developers’ establishment was part of a coordinated action by the CBI which launched search operations in Hyderabad following directions by the Andhra Pradesh High Court a few days ago. The area was cordoned off by plainclothes policemen and people were not allowed entry.
Sources said Mantri Developers’ chief Sushil Mantri was not in office at the time of raid and is said to be out of town. A fortnight back, Mantri was summoned by the CBI to the agency’s Delhi headquarters and was grilled for nearly three days.
The CBI is keen to dig into Sushil Mantri’s association with former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Rajasekara Reddy and his son Jagan. They are also eager to know if the two had business dealings in which the Kadapa MP might have been benefited.
Sources said Reddy’s mansion in Bangalore on a 22-acre plot was built by Mantri Developers. They suspect that Mantri and Reddy together floated a company, Brahmini Real Estate, which is jointly developing a project on 350 acres near Hyderabad airport.
Sources said that the investigating agency would continue with the search and seizure operation till Friday evening.
The documents and other evidence unearthed from the raids on Mantri Developers and Reddy’s bungalow would be shared with the CBI branch in Hyderabad where they would collated to bolster the agency’s case against the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister’s son.
