Illegal mining issue: CBI continues raids for second day

The CBI team, which began its raids yesterday, conducted searches at Ennoble India, a chit fund firm which has now ceased its operations, and other establishments owned by Reddy till 3 am, police said.

The searches were resumed this morning, they said. Some documents were seized from Reddy's residence by the team which also searched the offices of CGM Mines, another mining group, police said.

Yesterday, the CBI team, armed with search warrants, examined the records of Obulapuram Mining Company and Ennoble India and 'Kannada Nadu'-- a vernacular daily, all owned by Janardhana and his brother Revenue Minister Karunakara Reddy.
CBI officials had questioned Janardhana and their family associate Health Minister B Sreeramulu, who is also an OMC partner, besides few employees of their establishments.
Janardhana, whose mining companies' activities in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, have come under CBI scanner, had described the raids as a "large design aimed at destabilising the only BJP government in the South".

The Reddy brothers had spearheaded a campaign for removal of B S Yeddyurappa two months ago, but patched up later after the central leadership's intervention.