CBI files additional chargesheet in Obulapuram case

Hyderabad, March 30 (IANS) The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Friday filed an additional chargesheet in the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) case, naming Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Y. Srilakhsmi as an accused.

The investigating agency, which filed the 39-page chargesheet in the special CBI court, has named the woman IAS official as the sixth accused.

The federal agency submitted to the court 14 documents in support of the allegations against the bureaucrat. It also produced the statements of 13 witnesses in the case.

Former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy, his brother-in-law and OMC managing director B.V. Srinivasa Reddy and former director of mines V.D. Rajagopal are the other key accused in the case.

Janardhana Reddy is currently lodged in a Bangalore jail, where he is facing another case of illegal mining.

Srilakshmi, as the Secretary (Industries) during Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's rule in Andhra Pradesh, had issued orders favouring OMC by granting it lease for iron ore mining at Obulapuram in Anantapur district.

Srilakshmi, who is lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail here, has been charged under Section 120 B (Criminal Conspiracy) and 409 (Criminal Breach of Trust by Public Servant) of the Indian Penal Code and under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Srilakshmi was family welfare commissioner at the time of her arrest by the CBI in November last year.

The CBI in December had filed the chargesheet against Janardhana Reddy and four others.