Judicial remand for Deccan Chronicle promoters till March 13

CBI sleuths had arrested the Reddy brothers on February 21

The promoters of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited (DCHL), T Venkattram Reddy and T Vinayaka Ravi Reddy, were remanded to judicial custody by the 12th additional chief metropolitan magistrate court on Friday.

The court reverted them to judicial custody as they were produced before the magistrate after the five-day custody with the investigative team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ended on Friday.

The court extended the judicial custody of the two accused till March 13, 2015, on the request of CBI counsel M RP Babu, who stated that they would influence the witnesses and the ongoing investigation if freed. "In addition to  these grounds, the CBI sought the extension of judicial custody as the third promoter, P K Iyer, was still in hiding," the CBI counsel told Business Standard.

The CBI sleuths belonging to the Banking Securities and Fraud Cell from Bengaluru had arrested the two brothers on February 21 in connection with a bank fraud case involving Rs 358 crore loans extended by public sector Canara Bank. The CBI alleged the accused resorted to criminal irregularities, including forging the documents actions for securing the loan from the bank. They were being interrogated at the CBI office here since Monday.

The counsel for the accused said they will be challenging the judicial custody when the court reconvenes on next Monday. The accused had informed the court that they had withdrawn a petition filed before the Hyderabad high court challenging the arrests.