Gali - A 'charmer' with mafioso traits

HYDERABAD: As he emerged out of the CBI court room in Nampally on the day of his arrest, a smiling Gali Janardhana Reddy shouted “Satyameva Jayate.” For a man steeped in corrupt practices, dubious business deals, power-hungry politics and fraudulent means to acquire a fortune of over Rs 25,000 crore in less than two decades, Gali keeps talking about godly morals and virtues.
“We got opportunities and government policies came in handy. We seized them with both hands and made riches. God has been kind to our family,” Gali had said when he took a media delegation to his Bellary mines in 2007. That was then. Now, as he spends sleepless nights in a small cell in Chanchalguda jail, it must have reminded him about the tiny tin-roofed house in his native Mahankali Devi Puttur village in Yerpedu mandal in Chittoor district which he shared with his two elder brothers and sister Rajeshwari.
“After he became a mining magnate, he hardly visited the village. But he has promised to construct a library and a temple in the place where once their house stood,” reveals Biyyapu Madhusudan Reddy of MD Puttur. He came to the village some years ago when the tonsuring ceremony of his children was performed in the local Muniswara Swamy temple.
Gali built a palatial house for his sister and brother-in-law Sudhakar Reddy on the outskirts of Srikalahasti. “He used to come to Renigunta in his personal Bell 407 chopper (worth Rs 16 crore) and drive down to Srikalahasti to meet his sister,” Trimurthy, a resident of Srikalahasti, recalls. Gali certainly knew how to charm his way through obstacles with liberal dose of gifts in the form of cash, gold, ornaments, house sites and others.
At other times, when charm or money didn’t work, Gali allegedly used muscle power. He operated like a mafia king in Bellary mines. He used musclemen from Bihar to terrorise a mine owner whose land borders that of OMC, to undertake illegal mining.
Even as he donated crowns, jewels and gold ornaments to various temples, he didn’t blink or think twice about blasting 300-year-old Sunkulamma temple (on September 3, 2006) since it came in the way of his mining activities. “Lady luck smiled on Gali when he dabbled in mining due to the well-positioned Saturn. But the demolition of the temple led to a negative impact on his life,” astrologer Sushyendra Sarma of Anantapur asserts.
Tapal Syamprasad, a former mine owner and victim of Gali brothers’ coercive tactics, says by donating jewellery worth crores to temples their sins wouldn’t be washed away. “I have sent copies of Bhagawad Gita and Garuda Puranam (which talks about punishment in hell) to Gali Janardhana Reddy. I demand that he stand in front of Lord Vinayaka in Kanipakam and testify that his wealth is all hard-earned and not acquired by dubious means,” he says throwing a challenge to Gali.
Despite life coming to a full circle, 44-year-old Gali knew how to ingratiate himself with people in power. Whether it was Sushma Swaraj in the 1999 elections or Rajasekhara Reddy in 2004, the `Bellari badshah’ established himself as a political force to reckon with in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. A BJP insider recalls how Gali convinced Rajasekhara Reddy to pit Mohd Fareeduddin to help Kishan Reddy’s win in Amberpet constituency in 2009. Gali also saw to it that Anantapur DCC chief P Venugopal Reddy was sidelined and Rayadurg ticket was given to his friend and former OMC MD Kapu Ramachandra Reddy in 2009 elections.
That Gali was bent upon building the `Republic of Bellary’ in his own way was further confirmed when he had his way with the BJP leadership by pitchforking a novice like Boya Shantha from the Bellary Lok Sabha seat in 2009. “He chartered a chopper to Guntakal to bring Shantha to Bellary in time for filing the nomination papers,” Shantha’s relative Samraj recounts. Shantha is sister of Boya Sriramulu, former BJP health minister and trusted aide of Gali.
At the same time, he never forgot to bribe lower rung officials in police, forest, mining and revenue departments. Sources claim that a Circle Inspector was gifted two JCBs (poclainers) worth Rs 50 lakh.
“A deputy superintendent of police was gifted a Mercedes Benz and a 10-acre farmhouse. An assistant director in the mines department, was showered with Rs 50 lakh worth of gifts. Sub inspectors, surveyors, tehsildars and mines officials were bribed for ensuring a free run to spread his ever-expanding mining mafia,” a source says.
With education only till class 10, Gali has often displayed his arrogance and lack of finesse at social gatherings. At a press meet in a Hyderabad hotel on November 13, 2009, Gali while threatening his detractor Chandrababu Naidu with dire consequences said people would spit on him.
While his wealth multiplied many times over, Gali’s quest for luxury cars, choppers, expensive cell phones and other possessions too grew. “His customized Volvo bus worth Rs 5 crore is a moving palace. It has all the facilities, including a remote-controlled bed and a satellite phone,” reveals an insider who has seen Gali from close quarters. He married Lakshmi Aruna, daughter of Dereddy Parameshwar Reddy of Kakanuru village in Kurnool district. “A marginal farmer before, Parameshwar now lives in a posh house in Kakanuru. A helipad has been constructed in the village for Gali’s chopper to land,” sources say.
“It’s no exaggeration that Gali is corruption personified. He represents the rags-to-riches story but in a negative sense and is the sign of the times we live,” political analyst Telkapalli Ravi says.
The 44-year-old Gali knew how to ingratiate himself with people in power. Whether it was Sushma Swaraj in the 1999 elections or late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in 2004, the Bellary badshah established himself as a political force to reckon with in both Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.