CCB issues Notice to Janardhana Reddy
Bengaluru, Nov 9: A day after conducting searches at his Ballari residence, the Central Crime Branch here Friday issued notice asking mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy, who is absconding, to appear before it on November 11.
Reddy is wanted in connection with money transaction amounting to crores of rupees allegedly linked to a ponzi scheme.
The central crime branch (CCB) is also hunting for Reddy's close aide Ali Khan, who allegedly struck a Rs 20-crore deal with Syed Ahmed Fareed of Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd, a firm accused of involvement in the ponzi scheme, to bail him out of an Enforcement Directorate investigation.
Reddy's lawyer C H Hanumantharaya, who earlier moved a city civil court Friday seeking anticipatory bail plea, told reporters that Reddy would take a call Saturday whether to appear before the CCB or not.
"The bail plea we had filed was withdrawn after the court asked the prosecution to file their objection by Monday.
The court also agreed to hear the victims of the case (ponzi scheme). Since the matter is coming up on Monday, we will decide whether Reddy should appear before the CCB or not," Hanumantharaya said.
Meanwhile, Reddy filed two petitions in the Karnataka High Court.
The first petition pertained to quashing the First Information Report against him stating that it was based on "baseless allegations."
The second plea sought removal of two police officials from investigating the case.
Reddys lawyer R P Chandrashekhar accused the officers of physically torturing the accused in the case to sign on confessional statements implicating Reddy and Ali Khan.
He also alleged that there were political interests behind targeting Reddy.
Reddy has alleged that the investigation was unfair as the accused have been tortured in police custody, Chandrashekhar said.
Searches continued at Reddy's residence in Ballari Thursday which started around 6 am and went on till evening, two days after Reddy's confidante Sriramulu's sister J Shantha, a BJP candidate, lost in the bypoll from Ballari Lok Sabha constituency, considered a stronghold of the Reddy brothers.
The Congress won the seat breaking the BJP's hold over Ballari since 2004.
Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Sunil Kumar has said Reddy was absconding and police were looking for him to question him in connection with the case.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
