A Bengaluru Court on Wednesday granted bail to Ballari’s mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy in connection with Ambident Group alleged bribery case.
Notably, the 1st Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Bengaluru granted bail to Janardhan Reddy on a bond of Rs 1 lakh.
According to a report published in The News Minute, Janardhana Reddy’s right-hand Mehfuz Ali Khan on Tuesday submitted an affidavit in court saying that Syed Ahmed Fareed, the founder and managing director of Ambidant, helped him receive a loan to purchase the gold. Mehfuz also said that he was prepared to return the Rs 18 crore to Ahmed Fareed if the court orders him to do so.
However, the submission of affidavit from Mehfuz Ali Khan led the case weaken and therefore Janardhana Reddy got bail easily.
The owner of a private enterprise, the Ambident Group, has alleged that during his days as a minister, Janardhan Reddy had demanded Rs 18 crore from him, promising to bail him out of a corruption case. The money was paid to a close aide.
The company which deals with finance already has a case of Rs 600 crore registered against it and also has been accused of cheating several of its investors. The owner of the company Syed Ahmed Fareed, on being interrogated by the police, said that Janardhan had assured his help during their meeting at a private hotel in Bengaluru.
Fareed further disclosed that he paid Rs 18 crore through his firm to a bullion trader in Bengaluru named Ramesh Kothari. Kothari, then had the amount converted into 57 kg gold which was then given to Ali khan, who is close to Janardhan.
Reddy was arrested on Sunday, a day after, he appeared for questioning at the crime branch office in Bengaluru.
Also Read: Bengaluru: Mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy arrested in bribery case