Kadapa MP appears before CBI in Viveka murder case

Hyderabad: Kadapa MP Y. S. Avinash Reddy on Wednesday appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in former minister Y. S. Vivekananda Reddy’s murder case.

Avinash Reddy, cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Redddy, reached CBI regional office in Hyderabad around 10.30 a.m. in response to the notice issued by the CBI.

He was accompanied by his lawyer. This is the fifth time that the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP appeared before the CBI.

The Telangana High Court had on Tuesday directed the CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy till April 25.

In its interim order on anticipatory bail petition of the MP, the court directed him to appear before the CBI daily till April 25.

The CBI had summoned Avinash Reddy for questioning on April 17 but the agency twice deferred the questioning due to hearing of his anticipatory bail petition.

The final order on the anticipatory bail plea will be delivered on April 25.

The CBI is likely to question Avinash Reddy in the presence of his father Y. S. Bhaskar Reddy and another accused Uday Kumar Reddy.

A day after a CBI court sent Bhaskar Reddy and Uday Kumar Reddy to CBI custody, the central agency took their custody from Chanchalguda Central Jail and after a medical check-up at Osmania General Hospital brought them to the CBI office.

Bhaskar Reddy was arrested by the CBI on April 16 while his follower Uday Kumar Reddy was arrested on April 14 in Pulivendula town of Kadapa district in Andhra Pradesh. Both were brought to Hyderabad where a court sent them to judicial custody.

In its petition seeking custody of Bhaskar Reddy, the CBI had named Avinash Reddy as co-accused.

The MP’s counsel had argued in the High Court on Tuesday that except the statement of Dastagiri, an accused turned approver in the case, the CBI had no evidence against Avinash.

Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, a few days before the elections.

The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him.

The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.

The Supreme Court transferred the case to Hyderabad in November last year after Suneetha Reddy raised doubts about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh.