Illegal mining: Court declines bail to Janardhana Reddy

A special court on Friday once again dismissed bail petitions of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy in an illegal mining case. The court also refused to give further custody of the accused to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The special court for CBI cases dismissed the petitions of both Janardhana and Srinivasa Reddy for bail as well as of the CBI for their custody.

The prosecution had opposed the bail pleas on the ground that the accused, if released, might tamper with the evidence.

Counsel for the accused opposed the CBI's petition seeking their nine-day custody, citing rulings of the Supreme Court in various cases.

They pointed out that CBI custody of the accused should be given only in the first 15 days of the arrest.

The CBI earlier questioned the accused during six-day custody.

The federal agency arrested Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) director Janardhana Reddy and managing director Srinivasa Reddy from Bellary in Karnataka on September 5 in connection with the illegal mining in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district.

They were brought to Hyderabad the same day and the court sent them to judicial custody till September 19. The judge September 13 rejected bail pleas of the two accused and remanded them in the CBI custody for six days.

The court later extended the judicial custody of the accused till October 3. They are currently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail in Hyderabad.