Former BJP-minister and mining baron Janardhan Reddy arrested in bribery-case

Former Karnataka minister and mining baron G Janardhana Reddy was arrested on Sunday, November 11, after hours of intense questioning by police in connection with a Ponzi scam case, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar said.

Reddy, who is a former minister of BJP, appeared for questioning after he had gone 'missing' for three days.

Reddy, who appeared at the Central Crime Branch (CCB) office Saturday, was arrested after the questioning ended Sunday morning, Kumar said. The CCB also arrested Reddy's close aide, Ali Khan, in the case, he said.

He was quizzed on Saturday by CCB officials led by Alok Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) S. Girish and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Venkatesh Prasanna.

Reddy, who was allegedly on the run, had appeared before police along with his advocates. He had claimed the allegations against him were part of a "political conspiracy".

It was also on the lookout for Khan, who had allegedly struck a Rs 20-crore deal with Syed Ahmed Fareed of Ambidant Marketing Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly involved in the ponzi scheme, to bail him out of an Enforcement Directorate investigation.

The crime branch had earlier conducted raids at Reddy's residence.

The CCB also arrested Reddy's aide Ali Khan, who had allegedly struck Rs 18 crore deal with the accused, Syed Ahmed Fareed and his son Syed Afaq Ahmed of Ambidant Marketing Ltd, a city-based company that ran the Ponzi scheme and duped about 15,000 investors by laundering their money from Dubai.

Reddy, a former BJP Minister in the state (2008-11), however, denied his involvement in the case.

"I have no role in the Ponzi scheme. The police have no evidence to prove my involvement in it. They (police) are misleading the media and the public," said Reddy in a video clip released to local news channels before his interrogation on Saturday.