Did Gali Janardhan Reddy's men pay the full bribe amount as allegedly promised to Hyderabad special CBI court judge Pattabhi Rama Rao, to secure bail for the imprisoned mine baron who is facing a CBI probe in the Obulapuram Mining Company(OMC) case?
Sources quoting the First Information Report (FIR) registered by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of Andhra Pradesh, claimed the promised amount may not have changed hands. Though there is no reference to the exact amount finalized in the ‘cash for bail deal,’ the ACB has reportedly stated in the FIR that a several hundred crore deal was okayed on May 9— two days before bail was granted to Gali— at a four-star hotel in Banjara Hills in Hyderabad between Bellary City MLA and Janardhan's elder brother Gali Somashekhar Reddy and retired judge Chalapathi Rao with rowdy-sheeter Yadagiri Rao playing the middleman.
A certain amount was allegedly paid as advance which was sent from Tirupathi by train to Hyderabad. This money was allegedly received by Chalapathi Rao and was kept at five bank lockers opened by Pattabhi's son Ravi Chandra at a nationalised bank in Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad and at the residence of Chalapathi's brother Balaji Rao, said sources.
According to ACB sources, Rs 2.75 crore has been recovered of the total amount given as bribe. The FIR says that Gali's men may not have paid the remaining amount as promised to judge Pattabhi when the CBI asserted in the court that it would go in appeal to the Andhra Pradesh High Court against the bail granting to Janardhan Reddy.