Hyderabad, Jan 16 : The Hyderabad court on Friday fixed January 19 as the next date for hearing the bail plea of Satyam Computer''s former Chairman Ramalinga Raju.

An order on police custody has been reserved for Saturday.

The plea was heard before the Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate court here.

On January 12, the court had deferred the hearing of the bail plea of Ramalinga Raju, his brother Rama Raju and company''s Chief Financial Officer Vadlamani Srinivas till today.

All are in judicial custody till January 23 and have been lodged in the Chanchalguda Central Prison.

Meanwhile, police stepped up their investigation into the case, having charged Ramalinga Raju and B. Rama Raju with criminal conspiracy and forgery after Raju admitted profits had been falsified for years and quit.

A case has been filed against Raju under Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 468 (forgery for cheating) and 477-a (fraudulent cancellation of securities) of IPC.

Raju had disclosed a financial fraud in the company to the tune of Rs 7,800 crore by inflating profits and showing fictitious assets where none existed.

The company''s scrip has fallen nearly 80 per cent since the revelation was made. (ANI)