CBI Cracks Down on Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy in Viveka Murder Case: Fresh Notice Served
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recently issued a new summons to Kadapa MP Y. S. Avinash Reddy, directing him to appear before them on March 10 for questioning in the Y. S. Vivekananda Reddy murder case. The MP was initially requested to appear before CBI officials on March 5, but he indicated to the agency that he would be unable to appear on that day due to his busy schedule.
Late on Sunday night, the CBI officials issued a fresh notice at the Pulivendula residence of Avinash Reddy in Kadapa district, ordering him to appear before the agency in Hyderabad on March 10. It should be noted that Avinash Reddy, the cousin of the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has already been interrogated twice by the investigation agency.
During his questioning, the MP appeared before the CBI in Hyderabad on January 28 and February 24. In the meantime, Avinash Reddy has confirmed that he will appear before CBI on March 10, while his father Y. S. Bhaskar Reddy is scheduled to appear on March 12. The central agency is currently investigating the case, which is now four years old, and has directed Bhaskar Reddy to appear before its officials at Kadapa Central prison on March 12.
Earlier, Bhaskara Reddy was summoned on February 23 for questioning, but he requested the CBI to reschedule the questioning to another day as he had some prior commitments. The interrogation of the MP and his father is particularly significant in light of an affidavit filed by the CBI in Telangana High Court last month, in which the investigation agency opposed the bail petition of Sunil Yadav, one of the accused.
According to the affidavit, Avinash Reddy, Bhaskara Reddy, and their follower D. Siva Sankar Reddy hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Vivekananda Reddy due to their conflicting political ambitions. The MP has denied the allegations and stated that he and his father were not involved in any way.
Vivekananda Reddy, the paternal uncle of Jaganmohan Reddy and Avinash Reddy, was found murdered at his home in Kadapa district in 2019. He was younger brother of former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, father of Jagan Mohan Reddy. The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified individuals barged in and murdered him. He was killed only hours before he was to launch YSR Congress Party’s election campaign in Kadapa, a month before the 2019 general elections.
Despite the fact that three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) conducted the inquiry, they were unable to solve the mystery. In 2020, the CBI took over the investigation into the case on the orders of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, while hearing a petition filed by Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Sunitha Reddy, who had raised doubts about some of her relatives.
Last year, in November, the Supreme Court transferred the trial and investigation into the larger conspiracy behind the murder to a CBI court in Hyderabad. The apex court remarked that the doubts raised by Sunitha Reddy about receiving a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were well-founded.