JOIN USCourt extends CBI custody of Reddy
A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court at the Parappana Agrahara prison on Thursday extended the CBI custody of former minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his personal secretary Mehfuz Ali Khan till March 19.
Reddy and Ali, accused in the illegal mining case involving his Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC), were lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Prison in Hyderabad and were brought to Bangalore on March 8 after the agency had procured a prisoner transit warrant.
The same court had then remanded them and four others lodged in the Parappana Agrahara in CBI custody, which was to expire on Thursday.
While the court has extended the CBI custody of Reddy and his assistant, it, however, remanded the four others – Kharadapudi Mahesh, Swastik Nagaraj, S Muthaiah and S P Raju – in judicial custody till March 19.
The agency is investigating into the Belekeri iron ore scam in Karnataka subsequent to a Supreme Court directive in September 2012.
It had filed an FIR against 20 people besides Reddy, including his wife Aruna, in connection with illegal mining by Associated Mining Company owned by the couple.
Probe incomplete
Sources in the CBI said they had sought the extension of custody of Reddy and Ali as the interrogation into several aspects was still pending.
The special CBI court in Hyderabad had on Wednesday extended the judicial remand of Reddy, his brother-in-law B V Srinivas Reddy, and another accused Mehfuz Ali Khan in the OMC illegal mining case till March 20, after they were produced via video conference.