India, May 23 -- An additional chief judicial magistrate court on Thursday rejected the bail pleas of two intermediaries arrested in the Mithi river desilting scam. The detailed court order hadn't been uploaded online at the time of going to press, so it isn't clear why the bail pleas were rejected.

According to the police, the two arrested accused, Ketan Kadam and Jay Joshi, charged the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) an inflated amount to rent silt pusher machines and dredging equipment supplied by a Kochi-based firm, Matprop Technical Services Pvt Ltd. The police claimed this was done in connivance with Matprop executives and officials from the BMC's storm water drains department (SWD).

Kadam, 50, is the director of Woder In...