HYDERABAD: The Special CBI Court on Tuesday rejected the bail petitions of mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy and his brother-in-law B Srinivas Reddy, and sent them to the custody of the CBI till September 19.After hearing the arguments of both sides for two days, magistrate B Naga Maruti Sharma, while rejecting the bail pleas, sent both the accused to CBI custody till September 19 for further questioning in the illegal mining case. The CBI had sought their custody for 15 days. The magistrate pronounced in the open court separate common orders, dismissing the bail petitions of Janardhan Reddy and B V Srinivas Reddy. He allowed the two accused to CBI custody under the supervision of RM Khan, additional superintendent of police, CBI, from September 13 to 19 while directing CBI officials to produce him in the CBI court at 10.30 am on September 19. However, Gali Janardhan Reddy’s advocates filed a review petition for permission to accompany the accused during CBI’s interrogation. After scrutinising the petition, the magistrate granted permission for two advocates to be during the interrogation. While V Ramana Reddy will accompany Srinivas Reddy, P Praveen Kumar will be present with Janardhan Reddy during interrogation. On the directions of the magistrate, the Chanchalguda prison authorities handed over Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy to CBI officials who then drove the duo straight to the CBI office at Koti. The CBI will be calling in a team of doctors to its office to conduct a medical examination on the accused.Meanwhile, the CBI is not ruling out the possibility of making the accused undergo a narco-analysis or a polygraph test for which the consent of the accused is necessary. ‘’The consent of the accused is a must to conduct these tests. We will see (whether to file a petition),’’ CBI joint director VV Lakshminarayana told reporters later.He asked the media to show restraint while publishing the names of the witnesses in the case as they may face threat.Lakshminarayana, who had sat through the two days of hearing in the court hall, appeared relieved over the court’s order.The CBI had sought the custody of Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy for 15 days contending that custodial interrogation would lead them to more details on the illegal mining by the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) and also ascertain the role of certain government officials who are alleged to have conspired with the accused.The CBI had arrested Janardhan Reddy and Srinivas Reddy from their residences in Bellary, Karnataka in an early morning operation on September 5 during which they seized ` 3 crore in cash and 30 kg of gold from the house of the former Karnataka minister.The OMC is accused of carrying out illegal mining from areas other than what was allotted to them and exporting the same to China, Singapore and Malaysia.
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