K’taka MLA Somasekhara Reddy held in cash-for-bail scam

IANS

Hyderabad, 06 Aug 2012: The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Andhra Pradesh Monday arrested Karnataka legislator G. Somasekhara Reddy in a cash-for-bail scam involving his brother and former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy.

 

ACB officials said they arrested Somasekhara in Hyderabad after questioning him for the fourth consecutive day.

 

He is the 11th accused and the second Karanataka legislator arrested in the same case. Somasekhara is a member of the Karnataka assembly from Bellary urban.

 

The ACB on July 31 had arrested T.H. Suresh Babu, BJP legislator who represents Kampli constituency in Bellary district.

 

Somasekhara, the second accused in the case, along with Suresh Babu and Dasaradharami Reddy, had allegedly bribed CBI judge T. Pattabhirama Rao for granting bail to Janardhana Reddy in an illegal mining case.

 

Pattabhirama Rao, his son Ravichandra, retired judge T.V. Chalapathi Rao, history sheeter Yadgiri Rao and junior lawyer Aditya were all in jail. Pattabhirama Rao in May this year had granted bail to the mining baron for Rs.10 crore. The bail was later cancelled by the Andhra Pradesh High Court.

 

In another related case, the ACB had arrested the chief judge of city small causes court K. Lakshmi Narasimha Rao, district and sessions judge D. Prabhakar Rao and realtor Ravi Surya Prakash Babu for trying to bribe Pattabhi Rama Rao on behalf of Janardhana Reddy’s family.

 

Pattabhirama Rao had rejected the offer but later accepted the one which came through his friend Chalapathi Rao.

 

Narasimha Rao, during the questioning by ACB officials, has reportedly claimed that Janardhana Reddy’s relatives were ready to pay even Rs.100 crore for his bail.