Chargesheet nails Gali's mine loot

SHIVAKUMAR G. MALAGI | DC BELLARY, AUG. 7

 2013





The CBI investigating the illegal export of 50 lakh metric tonnes of iron ore from the Belekeri port of Karwar has named former minister, Gali Janardhan Reddy as the prime accused along with six others in its first chargesheet filed against the firm, M/s S B Logistics.Accusing the mining baron turned politician of misusing his position as Bellary districtincharge minister from June 9 to August 25, 2011 to obtain undue financial gain through illegal mining and transportation of iron ore from Belekeri and other ports, the CBI said he had supplied 6.05 lakh metric tonnes of illegal ore to M/s Eagle Traders and Logistics that Kudligi MLA, B Nagendra is a partner in and received Rs 198 crore in return.
“There are no records to show that he had taken any steps to curb illegal mining as per the proceedings of the District Task Force meetings. He is the major beneficiary of illegal mining that was carried out in Bellary district during the relevant period,” the chargesheet said, adding that the former minister had directed the now jailed forest
officers, S Muthaiah and Manoj Kumar Shukla to remove the checkposts at Halkundi on the AndhraKarnataka border to enable the illegal transportation of iron ore using fake Andhra Pradesh permits.He also ordered officials of the mines and geology and forest departments not to issue permits to mine owners who did not allow him to carry out illegal mining in their areas or stock illegal iron ore in their stockyards, the CBI claimed.
The chargesheet said that Mr Reddy had imposed a virtual ban on the renewal of mining leases by the authorities without his consent and allowed it only if the owners accepted his demands of sharing the extracted iron ore. The former minister is accused of blocking opportunities for mine owners to operate legally to compel them to succumb to his methods.





Associated Mining Company case: ED to attach Reddy assets SHIVAKUMAR G. MALAG I DC BELLARY, AUG. 8 2013   Enforcement directorate had filed FIR in June, suspects money laundering SR. Hiremath, petitioner in the illegal mining case has urged the ED to initiate measures immediately to attach the properties of Reddy in connection with the AMC case for causing Rs 480 crore losses As it happened in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case in Andhra Pradesh, the Directorate of Enforcement is expected to attach the properties of jailed mining baron and former minister Gali Janardhan Reddy in connection with the alleged money laundering of Associated Mining Company (AMC) owned by him.Highly placed sources said that the ED, Bengaluru wing had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) which was nothing but a FIR, last June to probe the money laundering acts of Janardhan Reddy and his associates in the iron ore mining business in violation of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act(Fema).Sources said that ED authorities had obtained statements of Reddy’s accountants, statutory auditors and business partners, besides interrogating Reddy himself at Bengaluru central prison. The CBI had filed the chargesheet in the AMC case on May 30 last year estimating the loss to the exchequer at Rs 480 crore. The ED is expected to come out with a provisional attachment order in connection with AMC shortly soon after listing the immovable properties for attachment.However, sources said that there is not much immovable property owned by Reddy in the country to match his proceeds in the illegal mining business from 2006 to 2010. Most of the wealth earned by him is said to have been parked in tax-havens in overseas countries which the CBI is still investigating. Meanwhile, Mr S.R. Hiremath, petitioner in the illegal mining case in the Supreme Court, while addressing a press conference, urged the ED authorities to initiate measures immediately to attach the properties of Reddy in connection with the AMC case as he had caused losses to the tune of Rs 480 crores to the exchequer. Earlier, on December 4, 2012, Janardhan Reddy's shares worth Rs 884 crore were attached by the ED in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case, under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).Defining the illegal excavation of 28 lakh metric tone ore from AGK Mines of OMC in Andhra Pradesh as the “ proceeds of crime” amounting to Rs 884.13 crore, the ED provisional attachment order stated that OMC owners invested this ill-gotten amount in the form of 88,41,30,000 shares in Brahmani Industries Limited (BIL) at Kadapa district in AP, having a face value of Rs 10 each, held by OMC and that had been provisionally attached.  

ALL WASHED UP Flood threat to Hampi’s monuments SHIVAKUMAR G. MALAGI | DC BELLARY, AUG. 6  2013   The overflowing waters damage the historic structures each year Several monuments of the erstwhile Vijayanagar empire, located on the banks of the Tungabhadra River are likely to be washed away by floods in the near future, owing to the chronic accumulation of silt and debris at Tungabhadra reservoir located near Hospet, 14km from Hampi.The storage capacity of the Tungabhadra dam reduced by 30 per cent due to the accumulation of debris . This year, owing to continuous heavy inflow into the reservoir, the dam soon reached its full capacity of 1,633 feet and was overflowing by the third week of July. This was wont to happen during the second week of August, when the crest gates were opened to release excess inflow into the river. Official sources at the reservoir say they are compelled to discharge water even after average spells of rain in the district, due to silt levels, which stand at about 30 tmc ft in the reservoir. The Purandara Mantapa is completely submerged again this year. The adjacent Rama and Lakshmana temple is also partially submerged. The bridge linking Kampli with Gangavathi was submerged for a few days, as were the temples and monuments in the fort area of Kampli, the erstwhile capital of preVijayanagar period King Gandugali Kumararama.Local residents say flood waters have affected the overall stability of the historic structures, the nature of the soil, caused cracks and changed the geographical features of the land on which the temples stand.The latter half of July saw an average inflow of about 1.2. lakh cusecs into the reservoir. The discharge was about 96,032 cusecs, through 28 of the dam’s crest gates. The dam has 33 crest gates in all. In addition to this, about 10,000 cusecs of water were being released through canals on either side of the reservoir. P.T. Parmeshwar Naik, Minister of State for Labour and district-incharge minister said that the storage capacity of the dam had come down by 30 per cent owing to accumulation of silt. A meeting convened recently by M.B. Patil, Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, to discuss about removal of silt and construction of floodflow canal to recoup the legitimate share of the State going waste into the river, has appointed an expert committee to submit a detailed study within six months. “Steps will be taken based on the committee’s recommendations,” he said.