Karnataka govt authorises CBI to attach excess properties of mining baron Janardhana Reddy
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka government on Thursday authorised the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to attach 'excess properties' belonging to former minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy, his wife and companies owned by him.
The order came after the High Court of Karnataka granted the state government two days on January 10 to give information on the delay in granting permission to the CBI to attach Reddy's properties.
The court had asked the government why it had not given the go-ahead to attach the properties worth Rs 19 crore while it had earlier sanctioned the attachment of Rs 64 crore assets.
The government order on Thursday referred to the request made by the Superintendent of Police of the CBI to issue authorisation to the Pairavi officer/Holding Investigation Officer' to file an application before the special court for CBI cases in Bengaluru for the attachment of scheduled excess properties' of Reddy.
"The Pairavi officer/Holding Investigation Officer is hereby authorised to file an application before the special court for CBI cases, Bengaluru city for the attachment of scheduled excess properties of G Janardhana Reddy in his name as well as in the name of his wife and his companies and also other properties as shown in the schedule of properties as shown in the schedule of the properties that is submitted along with the letter dated August 30, 2022," the order said.
The CBI had sought direction from the court to the government to approve attachment proceedings against the main accused in the Ballari illegal mining case. The request of the CBI has been pending before the government since August 2022.
The CBI had traced additional properties in the name of Reddy, his wife, and the company in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The agency seeks to attach those properties in the illegal mining case pending before a special court since 2013.
The central agency claimed Reddy was trying to sell the properties he had obtained from the money from illegal mining activities through his companies Obulapuram Mining Company and Associated Mining Company Ltd.
On December 25 last year, Reddy had announced the launch of a new political party 'Kalyana Rajya Pragati Paksha'. An accused in the illegal mining case, he has severed his two-decades-old association with the BJP.
Re-entering electoral politics from outside Ballari district of the state, Reddy said he would contest the 2023 Assembly polls from Gangavathi in Koppal district.
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Vadodara car crash: FSL report reveals accused smoked marijuana, was not drunk
Vadodara: The main accused in the March 14 car crash in Vadodara, Rakshit Chaurasia, had smoked marijuana but was not under the influence of alcohol, according to the primary report from Gandhinagar’s Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL). Chaurasia, a 20-year-old law student, was driving a speeding car that rammed into two-wheelers near Muktanand crossroads in Karelibaug, killing a woman and injuring several others.
The FSL’s findings, as cited by police officials, revealed that Chaurasia’s blood sample tested positive for marijuana. Two others who were in the car with him—Praanshu Chauhan and Suresh Bharwad—also tested positive for the same. All three have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.
Chaurasia has also been booked under s. 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which deals with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He is currently lodged in Vadodara Central Jail. Chauhan has also been arrested, while Bharwad remains absconding.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone 4, Panna Momaya, the blood reports confirmed drug consumption. "They were driving the car after smoking marijuana," she said.
CCTV footage showed the car speeding before taking a sharp turn and hitting the two-wheeler. In the moments before the crash, Chaurasia was seen behaving erratically, shouting "another round, another round," followed by chanting “Om Namah Shivay” and calling out a girl’s name, “Nikita.”
Later, Chaurasia told reporters that a pothole caused the accident and claimed he was driving at 50 km/hr. He also said the airbag deployment had obstructed his view.
