CBI raids houses of Reddy associates in Bellary

BELLARY: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday raided the homes of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator and other associates of mining magnate G. Janardhana Reddy, who is behind bars, and seized several documents, an official spokesperson said.The residence of B. Nagendra, BJP legislator from Kudligi in Bellary district, about 300 km from Bangalore, was the first to be searched.The offices of Associated Mining Company (AMC), owned by Janardhana Reddy and his wife Lakshmi Aruna, the home of the former AMC owner and offices of the Deccan Mining firm were also raided, the spokesperson said.Several documents have been seized by the probe team, he said, but declined to give details.Janardhana Reddy, who was tourism minister in the BJP's first government in Karnataka, was arrested from here along with B.V. Srinivas Reddy, managing director of the Obulapuram Mining Company, on Sep 5 on charges of illegal mining in Andhra Pradesh.Both have been in Hyderabad's Chanchalaguda jail since then, except for the days in CBI custody for interrogation.The spokesperson said CBI teams were also raiding houses of some Karnataka forest department officials in Davangere and Chitradurga districts neibhouring Bellary in search of evidence on the extent of illegal mining by the Reddys.The Supreme Court has ordered the CBI to probe Reddy's illegal mining activities in Karnataka too.