The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday took K Mehfuz Ali Khan, personal assistant of jailed mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy, into custody for further questioning into the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam.
The CBI officials took Ali Khan into their custody from Chanchalguda Jail on Tuesday morning. It may be mentioned here that a special court, on Monday, awarded the CBI the custody of Ali Khan till October 16.
Earlier, seeking a 14-day custody of Ali Khan, the CBI alleged before the court that Khan was also involved in illegal mining, and that he played a role in several of Gali's transactions. The CBI also alleged that Khan new about the OMC's monetary transactions involving the illegally mined iron ore.
The CBI said that it wants to elicit information from Ali Khan about some "heavy transactions" shown in various bank accounts in his name, and about the "flow of money". In its petition filed before the special court, the CBI contended that Ali Khan's interrogation was essential to understand the modus operandi adopted by him in connivance with Gali Janardhan Reddy and the OMC, to identify his accomplices in the crime, and to identify the buyers of the illegally mined iron ore, which the agency had claimed was actually mined in Karnataka but was shown to have been mined in Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI is also hoping to ascertain the names of public servants who had helped Janardhan Reddy and others in carrying out their illegal mining business.
However, while granting the seven-day CBI custody, the court asked the officials to produce him before the court on October 17. The court also directed the CBI to interrogate Ali Khan from 10am to 5pm in the presence of his lawyers. (INN)