Mining baron G Janardhan Reddy arrested in bribery case, sent to judicial custody till 24th November

Former Karnataka Minister and Ballari mining baron, G Janardhan Reddy, who was arrested on Sunday by the Crime Branch officials in connection with an alleged bribery case has been sent to judicial custody till 24th November. His bail application will be heard tomorrow, 12th November.

Reddy had appeared at the central crime branch office for questioning in relation to the bribery on Saturday. He is suspected of accepting bribe of Rs 18 crore (according to some reports, Rs 20 crore) from Syed Ahmed Fareed, owner of Ambident Group, to bail him out from an Enforcement Directorate investigation.

Fareed allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme and cheated thousands of depositors by promising  40% returns on investment in Ambident. But no returns were given. A complaint was registered by the investors after which the Enforcement Directorate issued a look-out notice for Fareed. A transaction of Rs 18 crore was tracked in the case. The money was allegedly sent to Janardhan Reddy’s personal assistant Ali in the form of gold bars after first passing through Ramesh Kothari, owner of Ambika Jewellery and then through Ramesh, owner of a jewellery store in Bellari, Karnataka. According to Bengaluru police commissioner Suneel Kumar, “The owner of Ambident claimed that Janardhana Reddy and his associates told him they will help him get rid of ED cases.”

Reddy, prior to appearing before the crime branch, had released a video message from an unknown location claiming that there was a ‘political conspiracy’ and that he had faith in police. “I have not committed anything wrong. The police do not have a single document to prove that I am wrong. They are misleading the media,” he claimed in his message.

“I decided to make this video to let people know the truth. I have faith in the police and believe that they would not succumb to any political pressure,” Reddy added.

Alok Kumar Additional CP, Central Crime Branch, told ANI, “We have taken the decision to arrest him on the basis of credible evidence and witnesses statements. We will produce him before the magistrate. We are going to recover the money and give it to the investors.”