It was an emotional reunion and a chance to catch up with old pals. M/s Jagan Mohan Reddy, Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao, Nimmagadda Prasad and Gali Janardhana Reddy, the star suspects in the state’s biggest scams, were brought out of jail on Tuesday for a day’s proceedings in court. While the first three named were all smiles in the company of family and friends, mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy was overcome by emotion at the sight of his brothers and cronies.
The special court for CBI cases and the ACB court on Tuesday witnessed scenes that seemed to be straight out of a Bollywood flick even as a posse of policemen threw a tight security cordon around the premises.
At the special court for CBI cases, former cabinet colleagues Dharmana Prasada Rao and Mopidevi Venkataramana Rao met each other while Kadapa MP Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy joined them for a brief while. On the other hand, some emotional moments were witnessed at the ACB court with Gali Janardhan Reddy dissolved in tears when greeted by his close aide T H Suresh Babu and brother Gali Somasekhara Reddy.
Named as an accused in the Jagan Mohan Reddy assets case, Dharmana appeared before the special court for CBI cases on Tuesday. As he sat for the proceedings to commence, his former colleague Mopidevi, arrested in the same case, was brought to the court hall by prison authorities. Both stood adjacent to each other as the court proceedings went on. Mopidevi attempted to start a conversation but after getting a cold response, decided to discontinue it. Dharmana was visibly disturbed at the developments in the case. Jagan Mohan Reddy, brought to the court in a bullet-proof car from the Chanchalguda prison, greeted the duo with folded hands as he walked past. After completing his part of proceedings before the judge, Jagan once again walked past the duo and this time stopped to shake hands wearing a broad smile which was reciprocated by them. For the entire duration of his presence in court, Jagan’s trademark smile was in place and he looked fit and fresher than ever.
After seeking the permission of the judge, he also had an opportunity to spend some moments with his wife, Bharathi, mother Vijayamma and others who had come to see him.
Similarly, Mopidevi, Nimmagadda Prasad and IRAS officer K V Brahmananda Reddy were allowed to meet their families and counsels for 30 minutes.
Senior IAS officers M Samuel and Manmohan Singh, both named in the chargesheet in the Vanpic case, also presented themselves in court.
The scene at the ACB court was even more dramatic. Mining baron Gali Janardhan Reddy came face to face with his brother Gali Somasekhara Reddy and associate T H Suresh Babu. All of them are accused in the bail-for-cash scam.
Janardhan Reddy was brought to the court in the morning from the Chanchalguda prison and even as he was waiting for the court proceedings to begin, Suresh Babu and Somasekhara Reddy were brought in from the Cherlapally prison.
Upon seeing the duo, Janardhan Reddy walked up to them and embraced them. And they wept on each other’s shoulder.