Gangi Reddy shifted to Proddutur for murder trial

Hyderabad: Red sanders smuggler Kollam Gangi Reddy, who has links with the outlawed Maoists, has been sent to Kadapa amidst high security to be produced before the Proddutur Court on Monday.

According to AP Director General of Police J V Ramudu, the most wanted red sanders fugitive from the state had maintained cordial relations with the Maoists and resorted to several crimes in the state. Gangi Reddy is the kingpin in the attack on then AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at Alipiri in Tirupati in 2003, the DGP said.

The deportation of Gangi Reddy from Mauritius is a major breakthrough in the collective efforts by the Centre and state governments. The prize catch of the fugitive has come by closely working with the Research and Analysis Wing, Interpol and other security agencies across the globe, the DGP said.

Gangi Reddy, according to the police, was involved in 27 cases apart from the cases booked by the Forest Department in various states. Estimated to have earned over Rs 400 crore through red sanders smuggling, Gangi Reddy took shelter in Dubai, Ghana, Mauritius, Malaysia and Madagascar after fleeing India on bail in May 2014.

He was arrested by the Dhone police in Kurnool district in April 2014 and he obtained bail from the High Court. Later, the police filed a petition in the Court and got the bail cancelled, but it was too late.

The Interpol has issued a Red Corner notice on Gangi Reddy and alerted all the countries about the smuggler. After struggling for 250 days, he was spotted in Mauritius on February 22, this year, and was detained and produced in a court there.

The DGP said Gangi Reddy has spent huge amounts of money in hiring advocates and legal advisors in India and Mauritius to help him escape the law. The team of investigators managed to cancel the passport of accused which was obtained on fake identity.

“In order to bring him to India, a detailed documentation with respect to 14 cases (5 - under investigation, 8 - pending trial and 1- conviction in murder case) were produced to Mauritian Court to grant his deportation,” the DGP said. He had escaped the imprisonment of 18 months and 27 days ordered by the Proddutur Court in a murder case and would be produced in the court to execute the conviction, the DGP said.

Timeline of Kollam Gangi Reddy

Gangi Reddy a native of Kadapa district have been doing criminal offences since 1987.

Along with 58 others, he resorted to rioting with bombs and weapons against the villagers of Rangampalli and Vaddepalli located in Pullampet police station limits.

By 1989, Gangi Reddy and his brother K Bramhananda Reddy (former chairman of the District Cooperative Central Bank, Kadapa) made their base in politics. During general election in 1989, they attacked their rivals with bombs at Chavanavaripalli village.

His criminal history progressed to murders, wherein Gangi Reddy and six others murdered Ambati Murali Mohan Reddy of Vathaluru in 1992.

By the end of 2008, he amassed huge money in red sanders smuggling. He mastered in transportation of red sanders from the Reserve Forests in Rayalaseema to other countries. He hired labourers and criminals from the villages located in deep forests in Tamil Nadu to smuggle the wood out of the forest to send them to Japan, China, Dubai and several other countries.

He gained support from the Maoists and in the process he also got involved in the attempt to murder the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in 2003 at Alipiri.