Illegal mining case: CBI raids Yeddyurappa’s residence

Mangaloretoday/DHN

Bangalore, May 16: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided residences of former Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his kin here and in Shimoga early Wednesday for their alleged role in the multi-crore mining scam in the state.

"Our teams are searching for certain documents in the residences of Yeddyurappa and his relatives in Bangalore and Shimoga. The search is still on," a senior CBI official told IANS here.

The pre-dawn raids in Bangalore and Shimoga, about 270 km from here, began after CBI late Tuesday registered a case against Yeddyurappa, his two sons, B.S. Vijayendra and B.S. Raghavendra, son-in-law Sohan Kumar and mining baron Praveen Chandra under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Raghavendra is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Lok Sabha member, representing the Shimoga parliamentary constituency.

"We registered the case late Tuesday against all the five accused after receiving a copy of the order from the Supreme Court, directing our agency to investigate the corruption charges levelled against them in the illegal mining activities," the official said on anonymity, as he is not authorized to brief the media.

The apex court had May 11 ordered the CBI to investigate the charges that a subsidiary of the steel major Jindal group (South West Mining Company) had donated Rs.10 crore to an educational trust (Prerana) set up by Yeddyurappa’s kin for granting it leases to mine iron ore during his tenure from May 30, 2008 to July 31, 2011.

The top court’s appointed Central Empowered Committee (CEC) April 20 recommended a CBI probe into the graft charges on the basis of voluminous documents and records submitted by the Dharwad-based Samudaya Trust, an NGO.

Another charge is that Chandra had given Rs.2.5 crore to Bhagat Homes Ltd and Rs.3.5 crore to Dhavalgiri Property Developers Ltd, which are run by Yeddyuppa’s kin in return for granting mining lease to him.