Rs 215 cr stashed in British Virgin Islands by Reddy Bros?

New Delhi, Jul 29: The mining scam has already been touted as bigger than the 2G spectrum scam when precious iron ore that is national treasure have been looted illegally by private parties. An estimated Rs 12,228 crore worth of iron ore was exported between 2006-2010 totaling to close to 3.98 metric tonnes was illegally exported. This fact only denoting that there was a government-miners nexus that played a major part in this.

The hotbed of illegal mining, Bellary district and the rulers of the place, the Reddy Brothers are entangled in the controversy so badly that slipping out of it might be harder than they think, considering the detailed Lokayukta report that has nailed them completely.

With the heat also consuming the tainted Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yeddyurappa and other ministers for their involvement in the illegal mining scam, the damning Lokayukta report will also focus on the part played by corporates in the scam. The report is believed to have named Jindal Steel for allegedly giving bribes.

The Lokayukta report is believed to have indicted top business houses like Jindal subsidiary South West Mining for paying bribes to Yeddyurappa's family to secure mining licenses. The probe revealed that this company paid Rs 20 crore for a plot that originally costs only Rs 1.24 crore that belonged to BSY's son-in-law. They have also been accused of selling iron ore to a third party between 2003-2004 instead of employing its own steel plants.

Lokayukta chief Santosh Hegde slammed the companies saying that bribe givers are equally guilty of the crime. There are more than 382 companies who are involved in the scam with the Reddy Brothers placed high in the looting hierarchy. There are also reports that states that one of the Reddy brothers, Janardhan Reddy has allegedly stashed a whopping Rs 215 crore rupees in British Virgin Islands that is considered as a tax haven.

Lokayukta has also sought a probe by the RBI and Central government to look into the massive haul stashed by the Reddy Brothers abroad.

OneIndia News