Mining baron Reddy appears before police for questioning in ponzi scam case

After remaining elusive for three days, former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy Saturday appeared before the police here in connection with an alleged ponzi scam, and denied the allegations as a "political conspiracy".

Reddy, who the police said had been absconding, came in a car to the Central Crime Branch (CCB) office, along with his advocates, after releasing a video message from an unknown location, saying he would appear before it.

His close aid Ali Khan also appeared before police for questioning. The cross examination, which started at 4 pm on Saturday, will continue for the whole night said Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar.

We will continue questioning those who are in our custody. We need to question him more. We will take appropriate action at appropriate time.

"Since Ali Khan is on interim bail we will send him home. We did question him briefly. Tomorrow, we will decide what to do next, Kumar told reporters.

Deputy Commissioner of Police S Girish said Reddy will remain at the CCB office as the questioning will continue for the whole night.

After arriving at the crime branch office, Reddy had claimed that there was a "political conspiracy" and added that he had faith in the police.

In his video message, he said he was not absconding and was very much in the city, while asserting that there was no need for him to flee.

"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 telecast by TV channels.

Reddy, who was a minister in the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Karnataka, said he never panicked as neither his name figured in the first information report (FIR) nor was any notice served on him.

"Now that the notice has been issued by the police, I have decided to appear before the Central Crime Branch today itself though the notice says I should appear on Sunday," Reddy said.

"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," he added.

The CCB had launched a hunt for him since Wednesday in connection with a money transaction worth crores of rupees, allegedly linked to a ponzi scheme.

It was also on the lookout for Reddy's close aide, Ali Khan, who had allegedly struck a Rs 20-crore deal with Syed Ahmed Fareed of Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd. -- a company accused of involvement in the ponzi scheme -- to bail him out from the Enforcement Directorate investigation.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar had said on Wednesday that Reddy was absconding and the police were looking for him to question him in the case.