DA case: Lokayukta police raid Janardhana Reddy's houses, offices

In fresh trouble for former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, the Lokayukta police on Tuesday raided the houses and offices of the mining baron in connection with a disproportionate assets (DA) case.

The simultaneous raids were conducted at Reddy’s offices and houses in Ballari, Bengaluru and Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh.

The Lokayukta police said the source report estimated that Reddy possessed assets worth several hundred crores, while his disproportionate properties alone were around Rs 100 crore.

The Lokayukta police team, comprising 50 personnel, started the searches at 7.30 am at seven places. A senior police officer said the check period for the DA case would cover Reddy’s tenure as a member of the Legislative Council till date. Reddy was an MLC from 2006 till 2012.

Sources said the searches were on till late Tuesday night. “The source report at the stage of FIR itself had thousands of crores worth of assets, both movable and immovable. This apart, jewellery articles and other valuables have been seized during the searches. The details will be made known only after the searches,” the sources said.

Reddy was recently arrested by the Lokayukta Special Investigation Team probing illegal mining in the State. The Central Bureau of Investigation had filed two charge sheets against him in connection with irregularities in Associated Mining Company and Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC).

During the searches on Tuesday, the Lokayukta police also searched the office premises of OMC in Anantapur. The office of the chartered accountant for Reddy’s firms was also searched, an official said.

Seven others raided
The Lokayukta police also raided seven government officials in the State on Tuesday. They are: Rajashekar Bramhapure, junior engineer at the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation subdivision in Bidar; Hanumanth Madivallappa Sarawad, junior engineer at the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation subdivision in Vijayapura; Subbarao Subedar, PA to president of the Kalaburagi Development Authority; K Prasanna Kumar, assistant engineer at the Panchayat Raj Engineering subdivision in Bangarpet; S Varadarajan, deputy director (administration) at the Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services department in Bengaluru; Abdul Rashid, assistant executive engineer at the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd in Raichur, and Venkatesh, administrative officer at the Karnataka Renewable Energy Development Ltd in Bengaluru.

The searches were conducted at Bengaluru, Bidar, Vijayapura, Kalaburagi, Kolar, Mysuru, Raichur and Tumakuru districts.

The Lokayukta officials have unearthed disproportionate assets worth more than Rs 8 crore, the sources said.

Assets unearthed include sites, buildings, apartments, agricultural lands and gold ornaments.

The companies owned by Reddy that are under scanner are: Muddati Properties Pvt Ltd, Tubler Rivits Ltd, Parijatha Apartments, Ennoble Corporation, Ennoble Chit Funds Ltd, Ennoble Resorts Ltd, Ennoble India Hotel Ltd, Ennoble Constructions, Ennoble Business Centre, Ennoble Liasoning Centre and Raghavendra Business Ltd.