With the suicide note of driver Ramesh Gowda pointing fingers at Gali Janardhana Reddy, the mining baron has come under renewed scrutiny of the I-T department.
Janardhana Reddy had originally come under the I-T department scanner after his daughter’s wedding extravaganza, which had widely been pegged at a massive cost running into hundreds of crores.
At the time, I-T officials had given the mining baron a questionnaire regarding the wedding expenses.
The Hindu had then cited unnamed sources in the I-T department, saying that the initial reports of the department had pegged the cost of the wedding at a much more modest level of Rs 25 crore. It also stated that Janardhan Reddy’s chartered accountant had submitted the details of the wedding expenditure, which showed that most of the vendors were paid by cheque.
Speaking to The News Minute on condition of anonymity, an official in the I-T deparment clarified that the mining baron was yet to submit the full set of documents related to the case. “Reddy had submitted answers to the questions recently and had submitted bills. He had requested some time to furnish a few other documents that the I-T department had asked him to. The bills he had furnished show that he had made payments via cheque,” the official said.
However, the official added that the final assessments in the case were yet to be made. “It takes around 60 days for the investigators to file a detailed report on the investigation and more information can be obtained only after the investigation is complete,” the official added.
With Janardhan Reddy’s name coming up in connection with the suicide of Ramesh Gowda, the I-T department is set to take the details given in the note into account during the remainder of its investigation, said the I-T official. In particular, the official said, the nature of the connection (if any) between Janardhan Reddy and KAS officer Bheema Nayak (also mentioned in the suicide note) is being investigated.
Meanwhile, the Mandya SP said that Bheema Nayak and his driver Mohammed, another person accused in the suicide note, are absconding.
“We have formed three separate teams to probe the case. We are now in the process of gathering evidence on all members named in the suicide note. Only once we have evidence will we be able to bring them in for questioning since the names of a few high-profile people have been mentioned,” the SP told the The News Minute.
Ramesh Gowda was found dead at a lodge in Maddur on Wednesday afternoon, leaving behind a suicide note that accused Janardhan Reddy, BJP MP Sriramulu, Bheema Nayak and others of illegal financial transactions. In particular, the note made reference to Bheema Nayak converting nearly Rs 100 crore from old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to fresh currency of Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 denominations.
The note had also alleged that Ramesh was being tortured because of his knowledge of these illegal transactions.
As the note also details financial improprieties of Bheema Nayak, a KAS officer, a complaint has also been failed against him with the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Thursday.