A judge, who was an accused in the cash-for bail scam involving former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy, on Monday died under suspicious circumstances here, police said.

D. Prabhakar Rao was found dead at his residence in east Maredpally in Secunderabad. Family members said he died of cardiac arrest.

Police have registered a case under suspicious circumstances and were investigating if it is suicide or a natural death. The body was shifted to government-run Gandhi Hospital for autopsy.

Prabhakar Rao was arrested in the sensational case in 2012 and was later released on bail. He had reportedly told his friends that he was falsely implicated in the case.

Prabhakar Rao was Family Court-cum-3rd Additional district and sessions judge of Srikakulam when he was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) in July 2012. He was one of the three serving judges to be arrested in the case.

It was First Additional Special Judge for CBI cases T. Patattabhirama Rao who had granted bail to mining baron Janardhan Reddy in illegal mining case.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had exposed an alleged deal of Rs.10 crore for granting bail to Janardhan Reddy.

Prabhakar Rao, who had earlier worked as Secretary (Legal) in Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission, had allegedly contacted Pattabhirama Rao for facilitating bail to the former Karnataka minister.