HYDERABAD: Files relating to land allotments made to companies that later invested in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s media and industrial businesses contained official notings indicating a favourable recommendation, the CBI’s preliminary inquiry found. These markings led the then cabinet to clear the allotments, sources said.Acting on the agency’s preliminary inquiry report, the High Court ordered a full-fledged probe into the source of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s investments on Wednesday.Sources told Express that the agency compared files handled by the Y S Rajaeskhara Reddy regime and found that those relating to Jagan’s investors “had special notings by the late YSR, which meant that the files had to be approved and cleared by the cabinet.’’These notings were “special and indicative,’’ sources said; while other files had normal notations. Sources also said the CBI has identified and questioned some hawala operators in Kolkata who reportedly discounted cheques, splitting the money into several thousand cheques and DDs of small denominations in the name of a bogus company. The money is alleged to have been pumped into Jagan’s firms. The investigating agency believes that the entire hawala transactions are in the range of `150-200 crore. The agency has collected details like the exact amounts sent to Kolkata, persons who carried the monies, dates on which transactions were made and the modus operandi including the preparation and number of cheques.Explaining the modus operandi, sources said that for instance, if an amount of `50 crore was taken to the hawala operators, they would split it into thousands of cheques and DDs of smaller denominations in the name of fictitious firms. The same would be pumped into Jagan’s firms. “Some agents were questioned with the help of CBI officials in Kolkata and Delhi. Now that a full-fledged probe has been ordered, the CBI team will visit Kolkata,’’ sources said, adding hawala operators are under surveillance.
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