In yet another twist to the Gali Janardhan Reddy bail scandal, the high court on Friday suspended another judge D Prabhakar Rao who allegedly brokered the deal with suspended CBI judge T Pattabhirama Rao for securing bail to the mining tycoon.

Pattabhirama Rao allegedly took Rs 5 crore bribe for granting bail to Janardhan Reddy in the Obulapuram Mining Company’s illegal mining case on May 11. Pattabhi is now in Chanchalguda jail on judicial remand.

It was only on Thursday that the high court transferred Prabhakar Rao from the post of legal secretary to the state election commission to Srikakulam as family court judge. The Anti-Corruption Bureau, which is probing the cash for bail scam, came to know about the role of Prabhakar Rao in the scam while interrogating Pattabhi’s son Ravichandra and retired district judge Chalapathi Rao.

It was Prabhakar Rao who had made the initial deal with Pattabhirama Rao for securing bail to the mining baron. He had allegedly offered Rs 10 crore to Pattabhi to grant the bail. However, Pattabhirama Rao accepted the offer made by P Yadagiri, a rowdy sheeter, for Rs 5 crore, since the deal was mediated by Chalapathi Rao, who happened to be Pattabhi’s friend. Though the amount was only half of the amount offered by Prabhakar, Pattabhi preferred the second deal because it was less risky.