Did CBI rely on Lokayukta report?

BANGALORE: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths, who arrested former minister G Janardhana Reddy, are said to have relied heavily on the report on illegal mining submitted by the Karnataka Lokayukta to nail the mining czar.The voluminous Lokayukta report, which runs into over 25,000 pages, was submitted to the state government on July 27 this year and had exposed the writ of the Reddy brothers in Bellary, the iron-ore hub of the state, which had led to a complete “collapse of administration” in the district, prompting the Lokayukta to describe it as the “Republic of Bellary”.While several chapters in the report had highlighted the high-handedness of the Reddy brothers who have allegedly used their political muscle power, manipulation and corrupt practices in illegal mining, the report also said: “The system and officials were used by the minister to the personal advantage of himself and his family members.”Chapter 7 of the report was entirely dedicated to the illegalities committed by the Associated Mining Company (AMC) in which Janardhana Reddy and his wife Aruna Lakshmi are the sole partners.The Lokayukta described the company as a “pool of irregularities” and had recommended to the state government to remove him from the Cabinet for alleged misconduct in ushering the company through the backdoor and for having allegedly committed multiple irregularities.