NEW DELHI (Reuters) ? CBI arrested a powerful politician and mining baron in India's mineral-rich Karnataka on Monday over illegal iron-ore production, the latest move by the beleaguered government to dig out deep-rooted corruption.
Federal agents took G. Janardhana Reddy from his home early on Monday, raided his properties and also arrested his cousin Srinivasan Reddy, who is the managing director of the family-run Obulapuram mining company.
"Charges are conspiracy, cheating and irregularities under the mining act," said a Central Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman in New Delhi. She declined to provide further details.
Obulapuram did not respond to requests for comments on Monday.
Multi-billion dollar corruption scandals in telecommunications, sports and mining have dominated the political agenda in India for more than a year, triggering the biggest protests in decades and paralysing the government.
Graft by politicians with large business interests has long been a fact of Indian life but a newly assertive media and middle class are bringing more scandals to light, forcing the ruling Congress party-led coalition government to take its strongest action since returning to power in 2004.
A near-two week hunger strike by 74-year-old social activist Anna Hazare brought the nation to a standstill last month and forced parliament to agree to tougher anti-corruption legislation.
The Reddy family are major figures in mining in India and have for years also held high government offices in Karnataka, the second largest producer of iron ore in the country.
G. Janardhana Reddy was among those implicated in a probe that exposed an alleged $3.6 billion scam affecting iron ore exports from Karnataka, which is also home to India's outsourcing and IT hothouse, Bangalore.
The state's chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa, also implicated in the report by an independent ombudsman, was forced to resign in July.
Karnataka accounts for about a quarter of iron ore shipments from India, the world's No. 3 supplier of the steelmaking raw material after Australia and Brazil. The political crisis is seen delaying shipments and could put further upward pressure on global prices.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules Karnataka but nationally is in opposition, said the arrests were "vindictive action," by the ruling center-left coalition led by Prime Minister Manmohan Sigh.
Police said Monday's arrests were related to allegations of illegal mining in the state of Andhra Pradesh where Reddy's company Obulapuram also operates.
(Additional reporting by Arup Roychoudhury; Editing by Paul de Bendern)
lexus lfa student loans kenny chesney ocracoke island kerry collins kerry collins opm
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.