Another twist in murder of Andhra CM Jagan's uncle
Kadapa (Andhra Pradesh), April 16: The arrest of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy's relative Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy by the CBI on Sunday in the murder of his paternal uncle and former minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy has given another twist to the sensational case which continues to haunt the ruling family for the last four years.
With the Supreme Court setting April 30 as the deadline for completing the investigation into the murky case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) stepped up the pace by arresting Bhaskar Reddy for allegedly hatching the conspiracy to eliminate Vivekananda Reddy as he was becoming a hurdle in the family's political ambitions.
Bhaskar Reddy is father of Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy. The father-son duo were already grilled by the investigating agency.
Bhaskar Reddy is son of a brother of Y.S. Raja Reddy, father of Vivekananda Reddy and former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
The CBI has arrested Bhaskar Reddy on charges of criminal conspiracy, murder and causing disappearance of evidence.
The investigating agency believes that Bhaskar Reddy played a key role in spreading the word initially that Vivekananda Reddy died of cardiac arrest.
During the investigation, the CBI reportedly found that on the day of the murder Sunil Yadav (accused number two in the case) was present at Bhaskar Reddya's house.
Vivekananda Reddy was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula of Kadapa district on the night of March 15, 2019, a few days before the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.
The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him.
Some relatives of the deceased, who were the first to reach the spot, claimed that he died of cardiac arrest. However, the family members grew suspicious on seeing injuries on the body bloodstains.
With the evidence being wiped out from the scene, the police struggled to investigate the case. No progress was made by Special Investigation Teams (SITs) constituted initially by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government and later by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government after Jagan Mohan Reddy became the chief minister.
Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives, moved the Andhra Pradesh High Court, seeking direction to handover the case to the CBI. In 2020, the court ordered a CBI probe.
Since then, she had been fighting for justice in the case by pushing for expediting the investigation.
Last year, she approached the Supreme Court expressing doubts about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh. In November, the Supreme Court transferred the case to Hyderabad while observing that her doubts were reasonable.
Bhaskar Reddy is the seventh person to be arrested in the case. His arrest came just two days after the arrest of G. Uday Kumar Reddy, a close follower of Avinash Reddy.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Andhra Pradesh police, which was then investigating the murder case, had arrested Yerra Gangi Reddy on March 28, 2019
Gangi Reddy was granted default bail by a local court at Pulivendula in October 2021 on technical grounds as the CBI had failed to file the charge sheet within 90 days of registering the first information report (FIR). Later, the Andhra Pradesh High Court also upheld the decision of the lower court.
The CBI approached the Supreme Court, challenging the order of the High Court. The case was recently transferred to Telangana High Court.
The CBI had arrested second accused Sunil Yadav on August 2, 2021. Third accused Uma Shankar Reddy was arrested on September 9, 2021. The CBI had arrested fifth accused Shiva Shankar Reddy on November 17, 2021.
While accused number one Gangi Reddy is on default bail, fourth accused Dastagiri has turned an approver in the case and he is also currently on bail.
The CBI filed the first charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 against four accused -- Gangi Reddy, Sunil Yadav, Uma Shankar Reddy and Dastagiri. A supplementary charge sheet was filed on February 3, 2022 naming Shiva Shankar Reddy as the fifth accused.
In an affidavit filed in Telangana High Court in February while opposing the bail petition of Sunil Yadav, the CBI had claimed that Avinash Reddy, Bhaskara Reddy and their follower Shiva Sankar Reddy had hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Vivekananda Reddy over conflicting political ambitions.
Avinash Reddy and Bhaskar Reddy allegedly had a grouse against Vivekananda Reddy as the latter was opposed to YSRCP fielding Avinash as the party candidate from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. The former minister wanted Jagan Mohan Reddy to field his sister Y. S. Sharmila or mother Y.S. Vijayamma.
The CBI claimed that Rs 40 crore was offered to the other accused to carry out the murder.
The investigating agency also stated in its counter that Vivekananda Reddy was not happy with his brother Bhaskar Reddy and nephew Avinash Reddy as they had sabotaged his chances in MLC election in 2017 in Kadapa.
Avinash and his father wanted Shiva Sankar as MLC candidate, but when Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded Vivekananda, the trio ensured he was defeated.
Avinash Reddy, who has been questioned by the CBI multiple times in recent months, denied the allegations. He alleged that the CBI was not investigating the role of Vivekananda Reddy's family members as they had differences with him after he had married another woman.