Cash seized from jailed MLA Somashekhar Reddy

The Cherlapally Central Jail officials on Thursday seized an amount of Rs 15,000 from jailed Bellary city Member of Legislative Assembly Gali Somashekhar Reddy, an accused in the cash-for-bail scam involving his brother and former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy.

Cherlapally jail officials conducted surprise checks in different barracks of the jail as per directions given by Director-General (Prisons and Correctional Services) T P Das, said Cherlapally Superintendent of Police Srinivas Rao.

Incidentally, cash was seized only from Somashekhar Reddy during the surprise check.

After he was questioned, Somashekhar said that his family members had given him the amount and he had kept it in order to offer it to Lord Venkateshwara, the superintendent explained.

As the amount was kept without informing jail officials, authorities have decided to punish Somashekhar Reddy by stopping visitors from meeting him, Rao said.

Somashekhar, who has been charged with playing a key role in offering bribes worth several crores of rupees to suspended judge T Pattabhirama Rao for granting bail to mining baron Janardhan Reddy, is the second legislator from Karnataka to be arrested by the Andhra Pradesh Anti Corruption Bureau on August 6, following the arrest of Bharatiya Janata Party's Kampli Member of Legislative Assembly T H Suresh Babu.

He is also the eleventh person to be arrested so far by the ACB in the bail scandal involving three serving judges, including Pattabhirama Rao.