CBI sleuths on Monday raided homes of three key alleged frontmen of former minister Janardhan Reddy who have been reportedly absconding since his
arrest for illegal mining on September 5.
Although there was no huge haul of wealth, important papers were seized from the homes of K.V. Nagaraj alias Swastik Nagaraj and Mahesh alias
Karapudi Mahesh in Hospet town and from the home of Manjunath alias STD Manju in Sandur, according to sources. The three men, who have been named
by the Lokayukta in connection with the iron ore that went missing from the Belekeri port, are allegedly either in Sri Lanka or the Far East on
tourist visas. It is believed they ran a wide network of illegal extraction and transportation of iron ore for a price.
By extending its investigation to them, the CBI has clearly indicated that it does not intend to confine its probe to the controversial Obulapuram
Mining Company of the Reddy brothers in Andhra Pradesh, but will probe all its mining transactions wherever they happen to have taken place.