I was booked illegally in OMC case: G Janardhan Reddy

Hyderabad: Mining baron and former Karnataka Minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, the prime accused in the illegal mining case involving Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), on Tuesday alleged he had been "booked illegally".

Reddy, lodged in a jail in Bangalore in connection with another illegal mining case, was presented before a special CBI court in Hyderabad through video-conference following the expiry of his judicial custody in the case.

After seeking permission from Judge U Durga Prasada Rao to speak, Reddy said he was in jail since his arrest in September last year.

The judicial remand of Gali Janardhan Reddy and other accused in the OMC case has been extended till September 25.

"It's more than a year...I am in jail. The case was registered three years ago. I have two kids - a daughter and a son. I have not done any mistake...and was illegally booked in the case. Even my brother (Gali Somashekhar Reddy), who visited me in the jail, was targeted and falsely implicated in another case," Janardhan Reddy said.

"I am a former minister of Karnataka and we are living in a democratic country," Reddy said when the judge told him to stop making "oral submissions" and instead file a memo through his counsel.

The court then extended the judicial remand of Reddy and other accused in the OMC case till September 25.

The court on Tuesday also extended the judicial remand of YSR Congress chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy and other accused in the disproportionate assets case and Emaar scam, after they were presented before the court through video conference from the Chanchalguda Central Prison here.

As per CBI, the illegal mining by OMC, owned by Reddy, had resulted in a loss of Rs 5,100 crore to the exchequer.

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