BENGALURU: A CBI special court in Delhi on Tuesday convicted Gali Janardhana Reddy in an illegal iron ore mining case and sentenced him to seven years in jail along with five other accused. With the conviction, Reddy is likely to lose his Assembly membership, but is expected to appeal against the verdict.
The court delivered the verdict after finding Reddy guilty in the Obulapuram mining case. Reddy is a BJP MLA from Gangavathi constituency in Koppal district. He was accused of illegal mining in the Obulapuram hills near the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border during the BS Yediyurappa government.
The case relates to the illegal mining carried out by the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), in which Janardhana Reddy and Srinivas Reddy were the key persons. The company was alleged to have obtained mining permits through illegal means, extracted and transported more ore than permitted.
The company was accused of stealing 2.9 million tons of ore and earning Rs 884 crore in revenue. Janardhana Reddy, Srinivas Reddy, and Ali Khan have each been sentenced to 7 years in prison. The legal battle went on for nearly 14 years.
