Janardhana Reddy's custody extended till Oct 31

Hyderabad: A special court Monday extended the judicial custody of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law B.V. Srinivasa Reddy till Oct 31 in an illegal mining case.

The special court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases extended the custody, which was ending Monday.

As the Telangana lawyers at Nampally Criminal Court continued their protest for separate Telangana state, the judge conducted the hearing via video linkage between the court and Chanchalguda Central Jail here, where the accused are lodged, CBI officials said.

The court Sep 30 had dismissed bail petitions of the mining baron and his brother-in-law. The same day, the court refused to remand the accused into further custody of CBI.

The federal agency had arrested the duo from Bellary in Karnataka Sep 5 in connection with the illegal mining in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district.

They were brought to Hyderabad the same day and the court sent them to judicial custody till Sep 19. The judge Sep 13 rejected bail pleas of the accused and remanded them to CBI custody for six days.