BENGALURU: The hunt for mining baron and former minister G Janardhana Reddy by the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) has not yielded any results. The city police have now sought assistance of the police of neighbouring states to nab Reddy, who has been ‘absconding’ for the last few days.
Reddy’s name had emerged during the probe of a multi-crore cheating case. He has been accused of receiving 57 kg of gold worth Rs 18 crore from a con businessman, promising him relief from ED probe.
Reddy has gone underground after the police made arrests in the case a week ago and has not been in contact with anyone, including his family members. The police, who are trying to catch him with the help of his mobile phone signal, have not got any clue of his whereabouts.
CCB sources said Reddy’s mobile phone has remained switched off and the last location where his phone was active was in Hyderabad. “We have been questioning several people. But there has been no clue,” a senior police officer said.
Meanwhile, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar told reporters, “Our teams are searching for Reddy in and out of the state. We have also asked the police of neighbouring states to share information about Reddy, if they have any.”
The CCB police conducted search operation at Reddy’s palatial residence in Ballari on Thursday and seized several documents. However, they are yet to go through the documents to see if they are related to the case.
Meanwhile, the ED has requested the authorities to provide copies of all FIRs, including current investigation by the CCB relating to the investment scheme, to examine the possibility of initiation of separate investigations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act.
Police to oppose interim bail
While Reddy’s close aide Ali Khan is relieved as a city court has granted him interim anticipatory bail, senior police officers have decided to oppose granting him bail in the court. “We will submit to the court the details of his involvement in the offence and will request cancelling the bail when the case is heard on November 14,” a CCB official said. When the police searched Khan’s house in RT Nagar, Bengaluru, 5 live cartridges were found and seized.
“The focus of the investigation is to track the money trail and recover it. To do that, we will have to question those who had financial and business dealings with Fareed,” an official said. The police have also decided to search Reddy’s rented farm house in Molakalmuru in Chitradurga district on Friday, where he usually stays as he is restricted from entering Ballari.