Cash-for-bail scam: CBI Judge Pattabhi Rama Rao arrested

Hyderabad, Jun 19: In a case of corruption seeping into the lawmakers psyche, the Andhra Pradesh anti-Corruption bureau arrested Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) judge Justice Pattabhi Rama Rao in the cash-for-bail scam. He was suspended after the allegations surfaced that he accepted a bribe of Rs 6 crore to grant bail to mining baron Janardhana Reddy in the illegal mining case.

Raids were earlier carried out in Rao's residence and the arrest is the third in the case. Rao was hearing the case related to the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) scam. Retired district judge T V Chalapathi Rao and Pattabhirama Rao's son Ravichandra was also questioned by ACB sleuths.

Pattabhirama and Chalapathi were classmates at A C College of Law in Guntur and the latter allegedly brokered the multi-crore bribe. On a tip off that a deal has been struck between Reddy and the judge, the CBI had earlier recovered a cash of nearly Rs 1.80 crore from a bank locker here, the keys of which were allegedly in Ravichandra's possession.

OneIndia News