The CBI on Monday filed a chargesheet against former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and six others.
The chargesheet accuses Reddy and others of entering into a criminal conspiracy in Bellary and other places in 2009 and 2010 to commit various offences.
The accused illegally excavated iron ore from various mines and forest areas in and around Bellary.
They caused a loss of `198 crore to the state exchequer and wrongful gain for themselves.
The other accused in the case are the former deputy conservator of forest S Muthiah, former deputy director of Mines and Geology Department SP Raju, former Conservator of Forest Manoj Kumar Shukla, Reddy’s personal assistant M Ali Khan and his associates Swastik Nagraj and K Mahesh.