Illegal mining report names K'taka CM, Reddy bros

The Karnataka Lokayukta's report on illegal mining in the state is said to have named Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappaa, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy, the Reddy brothers among others as key accused.

Portions of the report, which have been 'leaked', suggest that former chief minister N Dharam Singh, Congress MP Anil Lad and Sriramulu, a close aide of the Reddy brothers and state cabinet minister, have also been named as the main accused in the scam.

Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, who will officially release the report in a couple of days, refused to confirm the 'leaked' findings of his report.

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"My officers are under threat; we need protection. Our phone lines have been tapped due to the high profile nature of this report," Justice Hegde said.

In the report, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa has been named as one of the main accused who helped facilitate this scam.

It names Janardhan Reddy and Karunkar Reddy of Bellary to be behind the scam, which runs into crores of rupees.

Further, the report details the roles played by two chief minister (former) H D Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) and N Dharam Singh of the Congress.

The report speaks about the manner in which politicians have connived with various officials in the state to carry out illegal mining.

The report also speaks about the various other agencies which have helped in carrying out this racket.

Further, the states that many of these leaders had flouted power to get licenses and other jobs done to carry out this trade illegally.

The first report by the Lokayukta dealt with the modus operandi and environmental hassles on this issue, but the second report pinpoints the big names behind this multi-crore mining racket being carried out illegally in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yeddyurappa was unavailable for comments.