'CBI probe into illegal mining has no meaning'

Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday said a CBI inquiry into illegal mining in the state is meaningless since the Lokayukta is already probing it.

“There is no meaning in the CBI inquiry into illegal mining in Karnataka since the Lokayukta is already looking into it,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

Taking a swipe at the Opposition which has been vociferous in its demand for a CBI probe into illegal mining in Karnataka, Gowda shot back, “Those who are doing it have a motive behind it.” The BJP government has come under repeated attack from the Opposition on the illegal mining issue over which they have been targeting the powerful Bellary mining magnates, the Reddy brothers, now in judicial custody after their arrest by CBI at the directive of Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Janardhana Reddy was arrested on September 5along with his brother-in-law and MD of his mining firm Srinivasa Reddy under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Reddy, a former minister in the first BJP government in the south, is a director in Obbalapuram Mining Company, in Ananathapur in Andhra Pradesh.

The arrests and raids were made on the basis of evidence the investigation team gathered recently when it raided the premises of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, a lawmaker from Kadapa LS constituency in Andhra Pradesh, son of late AP former chief minister Y S Rajashekara Reddy.

The graft case was registered in Hyderabad on December 7, 2009 under various laws, including the IPC, the Indian Forest Act and the Mines & Minerals Act.