S Reddy moved back to Bellary

Even as the prime accused in illegal iron ore mining - Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother in law BV Srinivas Reddy - are being questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the police department is on a treasure hunt of sorts.

Though the mining baron and his associate are lodged in the CBI custody for questioning, his network in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh has been found to be active and transporting huge amounts of cash to save havens.

The police on Andhra Pradesh police recently intercepted a lorry carrying about Rs 5 crore cash stuffed in four bags. Following the interception, the police arrested two persons escorting the cash and both have been found to be close associates of B V Srinivas Reddy, the managing director of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC).

Following the interception, the CBI officials have moved Srinivas Reddy to Bellary in Karnataka from Hyderabad to unravel the mystery of the cash trail. The CBI officials have found several bank lockers belonging to Srinivas Reddy in Axis Bank. One such bank locker had about 14 kgs of gold and over Rs 2 crore in cash.

The lockers are said to be benami and were opened with the connivance of a bank official now posted in Bangalore.