Karnataka - Bellary   

Janardhan Reddy replies to summons

Staff Correspondent

BELLARY: G. Janardhan Reddy, suspended Bharatiya Janata Party MLC and mine owner, on Friday submitted a written reply to the summons served on him by the Deputy Conservator of Forests (DCF), Bellary, in connection with a complaint that the former had encroached upon forest land near Tumati village in Sandur taluk.

The DCF had asked Mr. Reddy to appear before him and furnish all original records pertaining to the lease for mining at Malapanagudi, a border village in Andhra Pradesh, granted to him by the Government of that State.

In response to the summons, Mr. Reddy had said the DCF should have first consulted his counterpart in Andhra Pradesh and verified the records. After that, if it was found that there was encroachment of land, summons should have been issued to him. He had also made it clear that he would not appear before the DCF but would give a reply in consultation with his lawyers.

Advocate Ravishankar, who submitted the written reply, told presspersons that Obulapuram Mining Company owned by Mr. Reddy had not done anything wrong. It was mining within the area granted by the Andhra Pradesh Government. A joint survey of the area was conducted in 1991 by officials of Andhra Pradesh and found that the Karnataka border was 20 metres away from the mining area. He denied that boundary stones had been destroyed and land in Karnataka had been encroached upon.

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