CBI sleuths on Wednesday took 28-year old civil engineer K Mehfuz Ali Khan , a key aide of former minister Janardhan Reddy, now behind bars on charges of illegal mining, on a physical verification of a series of iron ore stockyards in the Sandur-Hospet sector which had served as the nerve-cente of the Reddys' mining empire.
Khan , who had allegedly managed and operated more than a dozen stockyards that stored iron ore received as hafta from 60-odd mines and ore from 16 mining leases operated by front companies of the Reddy empire, was first taken to an unauthorised stockyard by the side of JSW steel mill in Toranagallu and later to the Papinayakanahalli railway yard, Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Mineral stockyard at Vaddarahalli and the Shantha Lakshmi Jayaram stockyard at Kalahalli near Hospet.
The Reddy aide and his associates allegedly took over several registered stockyards including MRK Stockyard, Clariya Marketing Services, Mahalakshmi Plot, ILC plot, Star plot, Kineta Minerals and Metals Plot, Red Rock Plot, and Zest Enterprises for use in their illegal trading activities.