Vivekanand Reddy murder case: CBI custody of Kadapa MP's father ends

Hyderabad, April 24:  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday completed questioning of Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy's father Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy and their follower Uday Kumar Reddy in former minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy's murder case.

After six days of questioning, the CBI presented the two before a court and they were later shifted back to Chanchalguda Jail.

The CBI court had sent them to six-day custody of the central agency last week.

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.

Meanwhile, the CBI is also reported to have recorded the statement of former Superintendent of Police of Kadapa, Rahul Dev Sharma. The CBI officials are believed to have collected vital information from him about the case. He was Kadapa SP when Vivekananda Reddy was murdered in 2019.

The agency last week also questioned Rajasekhar Reddy, husband of Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Suneetha Reddy.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Monday set aside the Telangana High Court granting protection to Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy from arrest till April 25.

The apex court pronounced the order on Suneetha Reddy's petition. A bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice P.S. Narasimha also extended the deadline for completing the investigation into the case till June 30.

The Supreme Court had earlier fixed April 30 as the deadline for the CBI.

Avinash Reddy, cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Redddy, appeared before the CBI as per the interim order of the Telangana High Court on his anticipatory bail petition.

Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, and uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks 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 his daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.