CBI probes deeper into suspended judge's assets

The CBI, which has secured green signal from Andhra Pradesh High Court to launch criminal proceedings against suspended CBI first additional special judge T Pattabhirama Rao, has embarked on  a state-wide look out for traces of alleged bribe cash that may have flowed into the state from Bellary in Karnataka.

CBI teams have searched houses of the tainted judge’s relatives and friends in Krishna and Guntur on Saturday.

The CBI judge was charged with taking bribe as a quid pro quo for granting bail to mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy in the illegal mining case involving his Obulapuram Mining Company(OMC). The CBI is likely to arrest the judge in the case.

Following some credible information, the CBI sleuths zeroed in on the bank account of Pattabhi's son Balaji  and seized Rs 3 crore from the Ashok Nagar branch of Bank of Baroda.  The phone call from a stunned Balaji to his father about the crackdown linked the tainted judge to the cash arrived from Bellary.

The CBI officials also identified the role of a retired district judge T Chalapathi Rao of Chilakaluripet in Guntur district. Chalapathi Rao  allegedly acted as a conduit between Gali and Pattabhirama Rao.

Another team conducted searches in the houses of two of Pattabhirama Rao's brothers at Gudivada in Krishna district.

The roles played by Gali's brother Somasekhara Reddy and a rowdy sheeter Yadagiri from Nacharam here, too, came to the fore during the probe.

According to CBI sources,  Rs 10 crore was earmarked for getting bail and out of this Rs 6 crore was pocketed by middleman Yadagiri.

There were reports that hinted at the  involvement of Law minister Erasu Pratap Reddy—a relative of Gali Janardhana Reddy and a legislator from Karnataka—in the deal that was struck between the judge and Gali. However, the CBI sources termed them baseless.

Erasu who met Chief Minister Kirankumar Reddy at the secretariat later told media that he was in no way connected with the deal. “I chose the Law Ministry because it’s void of any murky deals. I will proceed legally if any one drags my name into this. Other than Gali I am also related to former Indian President Neelam Sanjiva Reddy” he added.

The High Court has launched separate inquiry-cum-disciplinary proceedings against the disgraced judge.  Gali had applied for bail on four occasions. He was finally granted the same by Pattabhirama Rao on May 11.