Former Karnataka minister and mining baron G. Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law B. Srinivas Reddy were denied bail on Tuesday in the illegal mining case and were remanded in CBI custody till next Monday.
A special CBI court rejected the bail pleas of both Mr Janardhan Reddy and Mr Srinivas Reddy, managing director of Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) and ordered they be handed over to the investigating agency immediately for their custodial interrogation.
Shortly after judge B. Naga Maruthi Sarma pronounced his order and sent them to CBI custody till September 19, CBI sleuths started questioning of the two men after securing their custody from Chanchalguda Central Prison.
The two were in judicial custody since September 5 when they were arrested by a CBI team at Bellary in Karnataka after searches were conducted at their premises in connection with alleged illegal mining activities.
During the hearing on the bail pleas of the two Reddys, CBI originally sought their custody for 15 days saying their custodial interrogation was crucial as they had personal knowledge of illegal mining of iron ore in mining area across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.
The CBI has been asked to produce them in court again on September 19.
CBI joint director (Hyderabad zone) V.V. Lakshmi Narayana told reporters that the agency will also examine other people in connection with the illegal mining case.
“We require more time for interrogation and we will seek extension of their custody from the court, if required,” he said.
Stating that the media’s constant trail of witnesses was “destroying evidence” in the case, Mr Lakshmi Narayana asked it to observe restraint. “Let us do our job… If there is anything significant we will inform the media about it. Help us in successful investigation of the case rather than destroying evidence,” Mr Lakshmi Narayana said. While seeking the custody of the two accused, the CBI had also said the Reddys could provide information on the “conspiracy” with government officials who were allegedly involved in the mining scam. The CBI had registered the case against OMC on December 7, 2009 at the request of AP government in the wake of allegations of illegal mining and irregularities in allotment of mining leases to the company in Obulapuram and Malpanagudi villages of Anantapur district of the state. — PTI