KADAPA: Kadapa police on Tuesday arrested YS Pratap Reddy, a relative of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, in connection with the Mamillapalle limestone mine blast, which claimed 10 lives. He was arrested at 4 pm in Porumamilla circle office.The 76-year-old, who operates mines in Pulivendula, Simhadripuram and other places in Kadapa district, has licence for keeping gelatin sticks and it was from him that the load was taken to the limestone mine on the outskirts of Mamillapalli.
Yerragadda Raghunath Reddy, who was arrested on Monday, had an agreement with Prathap Reddy to receive and store only two magazines of explosives. Raghunath Reddy had been selling gelatin sticks and detonators illegally. On May 8, Raghunath Reddy took the stock from Prathap Reddy and sold it illegally to Lakshmi Reddy against the explosive rules. That day, Lakshmi Reddy took the blasting material to Mamillapalle and handled them without any safety measures while unloading, leading to the blast.
Prathap Reddy’s negligence in sale of explosives and violation of explosives rules has indirectly caused the blast. Though Prathap Reddy has a licence, he has not followed rules in selling them to people. Kalasapadu police registered a case under Sec 304 (II) of IPC and Sec 3,4 and 6 of Explosive Substances Act. Meanwhile, the two main accused C Nageswara Reddy and Y Raghunath Reddy were produced before AJCA court, which sent them to 14 days’ judicial remand.