CHENNAI: After arresting sand mining baron Shekhar Reddy and his associate K Srinivasulu, Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday made three more arrests in connection with the seizure of Rs 34 crore worth new currencies during Income Tax raid in several places of the state.
The three include Prem Kumar, against whom an FIR has been filed and who was interrogated by CBI, and Rathinam and Ramachandran, Reddy’s partners in SRS Mining, who are reportedly linked to influential figures in the State including politicians and bureaucrats.
The names of the last two do not figure in the FIR, CBI sources said. The agency, which is probing only the seizure of new currency (Rs 34 crore) from the premises of the sand baron, has made the arrests after as it is believed that new currencies could have been procured with the help of bank officials.
Income Tax department has been interrogating Ramachandran about the modus operandi of different sand stackyards in Tamil Nadu, while Shekhar Reddy was interrogated about the Public Works Department
contracts in sand mining.
JSR Infra Developers, of which Reddy is the chairman and managing director, is Class One contractors for the Tamil Nadu government, involved in works including six-laning of Vandalur – Wallajabad Road, land acquisition for formation of Padappai Bye Pass (Phase-IV) and two laning to four laning of Vandalur - Wallajabad road. The company is also executing a variety of government projects funded by the World
Bank.
State government officials said Reddy’s arrest will not affect the projects of state government.