CBI strikes gold on Day 3 of the raid, use of metal-detectors leads to rich haul of valuables from the well-camouflaged cellar
Continuing with their raid on the residence of arrested former minister G Janardhana Reddy in Bellary for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials unearthed bathrooms and toilets decked up with gold and platinum articles.
Equipped with metal-detectors, the CBI sleuths ferreted out gold, platinum and silver articles from the bathrooms and toilets in the cellar of Reddy’s palatial bungalow, sources close to the beleaguered mining baron admitted.
Though Monday and Tuesday did not yield much in terms of haul for the raiding party, the decision to conduct searches with metal-detectors on Wednesday yielded rich dividends.
The cellar was well camouflaged and had escaped the sleuths’ attention for two consecutive days. However, on Wednesday, the metal detectors led them straight to the toilets and bathrooms teeming with gold and platinum fixtures.
Reddy’s family members are said to have admitted that the bathroom fittings were made of gold and platinum. The sources said that the gold articles seized on the third day of the raid weighed about 25-30 kg.
Wednesday afternoon’s haul only confirmed that the CBI officials had a huge task on their hand. They summoned income tax officials and in their presence prepared an inventory of the recovered articles.
The raid ended around 8 pm. The IT officials checked whether the purchases of gold and platinum articles had been accounted for.
Wife also to be arrested?
Sources close to the arrested former minister G Janardhana Reddy on Wednesday said that CBI officials might also arrest his wife G Aruna Lakshmi any time, take her to Hyderabad and produce her in the court. Lakshmi is one of the directors of Obulapuram Mining Company.
She wanted jewellery for a wedding
On Tuesday, CBI officials had seized gold jewellery weighing about eight kgs. The day’s search operations lasted for about 20 hours and video recordings of the proceedings stretched up to eight hours, sources privy to the developments confirmed. Later in the evening, Aruna Lakshmi is said to have requested the CBI to return her jewellery as she had to attend a relative’s marriage. The CBI officials returned a kg of gold only after she gave an undertaking that she would return the same after the marriage.
IG reviews situation
IGP (Davangere range) Sanjay Sahay on Wednesday visited Bellary and reviewed the situation in the city.
Sahay arrived in the city at 9 am and was briefed about Tuesday’s bandh in the city and the attacks carried out by Reddy’s supporters on various government offices, Bellary police said.
Lauding the local police for arresting 11 trouble-makers, he asked them to get to the root of the violence and arrest the men who masterminded it.
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