Hyderabad : A special court Thursday once again dismissed the bail petitions of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and his brother-in-law Srinivasa Reddy in an illegal mining case.

This is the third time, since their arrest on Sep 5, that the special court for Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases has rejected their bail plea.

A CBI counsel said the agency opposed the bail pleas on the ground that the accused, if released, might tamper with the evidence. It also told the court that the investigations were at a crucial stage.

The federal agency had arrested mining baron Janardhan Reddy and Srinivasa Reddy from Bellary in Karnataka on Sep 5 in connection with illegal mining by the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district. The two are currently lodged at Chanchalguda Central Jail.

The CBI earlier questioned the accused during their six-day custody in September. The investigating agency’s petition, seeking their custody again, is pending in the high court.

The agency last week arrested V.D. Rajagopal, the then Andhra government’s director of mines, the third accused in the case.

The CBI has stepped up investigations in the case as it is preparing to file the chargesheet before Dec 4.