Retired IAS officer Mr Prabhakar reddy had reportedly told the CBI officials during his questioning on Wednesday that he handled the mining department in the CMO just for the name sake but all major decisions of the mining department were taken by others without his knowledge.

Prabhakar reddy, who worked as a secretary in the CMO from 2005 May to 2009 August till his retirement, told the CBI officials that he didn’t know whether the then special secretary in the CMO Mr MGVK Bhanu was involved in favoring iron ore leases to Gali Janardhan reddy-owned OMC (Obulapuram Mining Company) as alleged by Mr Konda Reddy, a victim of Gali brothers.

“However, Bhanu was involved in some major decisions of the mining department but the details of his involvement never reached me,” he told the CBI officials, according to sources.

Prabhakar reddy also informed them that the then Mining Secretary Ms Srilakshmi or the then director of the mining department Mr Rajagopal never approached him or met him on any issue relating to the mining department, though he was in charge of the mining in the CMO.

“Even those who applied for mining leases also never came to me,” he told them. He disclosed that the CMO officials used to operate under the orders of the late YSR. Sources said that CBI officials had also inquired about the involvement of the then Government adviser Mr KVP Ramachandra rao. (JUBS)