Former BJP minister and Bellary's mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy was arrested on Sunday in an alleged bribery case, involving Ambident Group. He is suspected to have received 57 kg gold worth Rs 18 crore to help an accused in a case being investigated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
His arrest comes a day after Reddy appeared before the investigating agency after his anticipatory bail was rejected by the court. Police said he was interrogated till late night on Saturday.
"We have taken the decision to arrest him on the basis of credible evidence and witnesses' statements. We will produce him before the magistrate. We are going to recover the money and give it to the investors," said Alok Kumar, Additional CP, Crime Branch, Bengaluru Police.
Earlier, Bengaluru Commissioner of Police T Suneel Kumar had stated, "A company Ambident, set up in 2016-17 assured investors a return of 30-40 per cent per month in the form of profits. Thousands of people were lured to invest. Initially, they returned the first installment of profits as promised following which more people poured in."
"Subsequently, when the company failed to return the principal amount, cases were registered. In January 2017, the ED raided the company. The crime branch took over the case and a probe was conducted which revealed that transactions to the tune of Rs 18 crore were carried out," Kumar had added.
Later, it was discovered that the company had allegedly transferred the money to Ramesh Kothari who runs a billion business in the name of Ambika Jewellers. On quizzing Kothari, he informed that he had used the money to buy the gold, which was handed over to Reddy's personal assistant Ali.