A court in Bengaluru on Wednesday granted mining baron and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Gali Janardhan Reddy bail on a bond of Rs 1 lakh, in a ponzi scheme case, ANI reported.

On Sunday, the Central Crime Branch had arrested Reddy in connection with the case. Reddy’s aide Ali Khan was arrested as well.

Last week, the police had said Reddy was absconding. On Saturday, he turned up for questioning at the Bengaluru office of the Central Crime Branch. Reddy has denied any wrongdoing and has accused the police of “misleading the media”.

The owner of a firm called Ambident Group, which has been accused of duping investors, has alleged that Reddy demanded Rs 18 crore to bail him out of a case. Reddy was a minister in Karnataka’s BS Yeddyurappa-led Bharatiya Janata Party government at the time. The money was allegedly converted to gold and handed over to Reddy’s aide Khan.

The Ambident Group has been accused of duping hundreds of investors and is facing a Rs 600-crore fraud case.