The Anti-Corruption Bureau on Wednesday brought in a Bellary-based jeweller for questioning in the cash-for-bail case of Gali Janardhan Reddy. The jeweller, identified as Janardhan, is suspected of buying 3-kg gold from Mr Janardhan Reddy’s relatives and paying in cash. The money was part of the `1 crore used to bribe judge T. Pattabhi Rama Rao and mediators to grant bail to Mr Janardhan Reddy.
The ACB is yet to decide on whether to make the jeweller an accused or a witness in the case. Sources in the ACB said that Mr Janardhan Reddy’s relatives, MLA Gali Somasekhara Reddy and G. Dasrathram Reddy, approached the jeweller and told him that they wanted to sell the gold for cash. The jeweller agreed and came to Hyderabad with the cash, and the exchange took place in a city hotel. The cash was then stuffed into bags and handed over to rowdy-sheeter Yadagiri Rao, a middleman in the cash-for-bail case, by Mr Dasrathram Reddy. Yadagiri in turn gave the cash to another mediator, Chalapathi Rao, who kept it in a bank locker for CBI judge T. Pattabhi Rama Rao and his son Ravichandra.