Hyderabad: A month before the 2019 elections in Andhra Pradesh, when YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was set to take the chief minister’s seat, a brutal murder shook the influential YS family. Four years later, Jagan’s uncle YS Bhaskar Reddy and his son YS Avinash Reddy are under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for the crime.
CBI last week Arrested He was made an accused in the murder of Bhaskar Reddy from Pulivendula town and former Congress MP YS Vivekananda Reddy.
Vivekananda was found dead under suspicious circumstances at his Pulivendula residence on March 15, 2019. There were many injury marks on his body. Blood was found splattered all over the floor and walls.
To complicate matters, Vivekananda, Jagan’s father and the younger brother of late chief minister YS Rajasekhara (YSR) Reddy, was Bhaskar Reddy’s cousin and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP from Kadapa, Avinash’s uncle.
In Reply to the petitions filed by one of the accused, The CBI submitted to the Telangana High Court in February that the father-son duo of Bhaskar and Avinash Reddy hatched the murder conspiracy because of political rivalry with one of their key accomplices, Siva Shankar Reddy (YSRCP leader and named as accused) . with Vivekananda
The CBI’s affidavit names at least five accused, three of whom are in its custody. While the fourth is out on bail, the fifth accused – Vivekananda’s former driver – has turned approver in the case. Last week, the CBI arrested Uday Kumar Reddy, another close aide of Avinash Reddy.
A Rs 40 crore Betel The CBI said the deal was struck for the murder, for which the executor paid an initial amount of Rs 1 crore through an intermediary (also an accused) on behalf of Avinash and Bhaskar as advance to commit the crime. did.
In March, the Supreme Court ordered the CBI to complete the probe in the case by April 30.
Avinash had first moved an anticipatory bail plea in March in the Telangana High Court, which on Tuesday restrained the CBI from arresting him till April 25, but after Reddy moved the court again with a similar plea His questioning was allowed. Following this, the Kadapa MP was questioned for more than six hours over the last three days.
In its latest submission in the court on Tuesday, the CBI claimed that Avinash played a role in Vivekananda’s murder and that it has collected “circumstantial” evidence in this regard. ThePrint has a copy of the affidavit.
It further alleged that Avinash knew about the murder, and had tried to destroy evidence at the crime scene.
Meanwhile, the Kadapa MP has the support of the Andhra Pradesh government. In February, government advisor Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy told a press briefing that Avinash had no role in the murder and blamed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Chandrababu Naidu for influencing the investigating officers.
“It may not have become an issue last time as the death happened just before the elections. But it will definitely have an impact on this election. It is likely to become an election issue,” a source close to the CM told ThePrint.
what happened on doomsday
Around 6 in the morning, Vivekananda was found dead by his personal assistant, domestic servant and his son. He was lying in a pool of blood and there were injury marks on his body. The CBI affidavit states that around 2 liters of blood was spilled on the floor.
Avinash reached Vivekananda’s residence after about 30 minutes. He told a local leader who came to see Vivekananda in the morning his relatives Death was due to ‘heart attack’, says CBI
He also telephoned the local Circle Inspector to inform that Vivekananda had died of a heart attack and ‘vomited blood’.
“During investigation, it was found that Avinash, despite clearly seeing the injuries on the body, the blood-soaked body, and the presence of blood all over the bedroom, J. Sankaraiah (circle inspector) to arrive immediately, (and) rather insisted on sending 3-4 constables to make ‘settlement’, stating that Vivekananda died of heart attack and vomiting of heavy blood cause, as if the death was due to natural causes,” the CBI said.
“This indicates that he intentionally intended to conceal the design of killing Vivekananda. It also indicates that the false story of heart attack and vomiting of blood was part of the conspiracy to give the color of natural death.” systematically spread for
The CBI said Avinash reached Vivekananda’s residence accompanied by two of the accused, who are also his close aides. Cotton bandages were immediately arranged by the accused to clean and cover the injuries of the victim, affidavit Said.
It also questioned the role of the local police, stating that “instead of preserving the scene of the crime and keeping the body intact, at the insistence of some interested persons, the body was shifted from the bathroom to the bedroom and was cleaned”. And bandaged.”
“…the blood that had accumulated in the bedroom and bathroom was neatly cleaned up, apparently to wipe away vital evidence relating to the murder. The police showed no interest in preserving the crime scene, but remained silent spectators ,” said the CBI.
Political rivalry in YS family?
The Rayalaseema region of Andhra is known for violent factionalism and bloodthirsty rivalries that have been the subject of several Telugu films. Former Andhra Pradesh minister Paritala Ravi, former MP Madduri Subba Reddy, MLA Seshi Reddy and P. Siva Reddy were murdered because of such rivalry.
In its affidavit, the CBI alleged that Avinash, Bhaskar and Siva Shankar Reddy sabotaged 2017 MLC elections and worked for Vivekananda’s defeat as Shankar wanted to contest on MLC seat from Pulivendula division, but Jagan gave ticket to Vivekananda instead.
There were differences over the Kadapa seat between Vivekananda and the father-son duo, who were in favor of allotting it to Jagan’s sister YS Sharmila or their mother YS Vijayamma instead of Avinash. Affidavit Added.
Pulivendula town is the YS family stronghold even as Jagan is contesting from the constituency for the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. But, local equations and power angles are different. Vivekananda dominated Pulivendula, and so did Bhaskara and Avinash.
Vivekananda Reddy had served as Pulivendula MLA, Cuddapah MP and the state’s Agriculture Minister. He even gave up his Kadapa MP seat, which was once held by his brother YSR, for Jagan. Avinash Reddy is holding this seat since 2014.
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the case so far
After Jagan took over as CM in 2019, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case, but it reportedly made no significant progress despite examining hundreds of witnesses.
The CBI took over the case in 2020, after Vivekananda’s daughter Nareddy Sunita filed a petition citing its slow progress and failure to identify the culprits. In 2022, Sunita requested the Supreme Court to move the investigation to Hyderabad or Delhi on the grounds that witnesses were being influenced and Avinash could hinder the investigation.
Sunita also told that the person questioned by the local police was found dead. The autopsy report indicated the involvement of external or internal injuries, he protested.
He also mentioned an incident how in 2021 when Shiv Shankar was produced in the Pulivendula court, Avinash reached the court premises with a large number of followers and threatened CBI officials.
He said Jagan had filed a petition in the High Court seeking handing over the probe to the CBI, but it was withdrawn after he came to power.
Avinash told the media that he was at a loss for words after his father’s arrest, adding that trust must win and he would continue his fight to expose the truth.
In an anticipatory bail plea filed earlier this month, he said it was a “motivated and targeted” investigation against him.
“The IO (investigating officer) is treating me as accused of the offense in the documents, Which he knows are public records and has formed an opinion specifically on my alleged involvement in the crime even before the first charge sheet was filed. It is submitted that what appears to be the statement of the IO is the only material approver against me,” his plea said, indicating that the CBI did not have concrete evidence against him.
It also describes how Vivekananda’s son-in-law informed his personal assistant to hide a handwritten letter and phone for the time being. and how, despite first knowing of his death, he The police were not informed but it was Avinash who alerted the police.
CBI has taken cognizance of the letter, which forensic experts said matched Vivekananda’s letter Handwriting but added that it could be written forcefully blaming the driver for his death.
Meanwhile, Avinash also pointed to Sunita’s strained relationship with her father and property succession issues following Vivekananda’s second marriage in 2010 and the birth of a child in 2015.
The CBI had also mentioned how it had traced the location of one of the accused at Avinash’s residence using ‘Google Takeout’ a day before the crime. The MP objected, saying that the accuracy of the data has to be verified.
Meanwhile, Vivekananda Reddy’s second wife Shamim on Friday recorded her statement with the CBI, in which she addressed her estrangement with Vivekananda’s daughter Sunita and how the family never accepted their marriage. She also alleged that Vivekananda’s first wife’s brother had threatened her.
(Edited by Tony Rae)