The court considered the arguments submitted by the CBI that Bhaskar Reddy might influence witnesses in the case if he was released.
YS Bhaskar Reddy. (Facebook)
YSRCP MP YS Avinash Reddy’s father YS Bhaskar Reddy suffered a setback with the special court for CBI cases in Hyderabad rejecting his bail plea on Friday, 9 June. He was arrested on 16 April in connection with the murder of former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy in March 2019.
Considering the arguments submitted by the CBI that Bhaskar Reddy might influence the witnesses in the case if he was released from prison, the court rejected his bail plea. Bhaskar Reddy, who is in judicial remand, is presently lodged in Chanchalguda Central Jail.
Vivekananda Reddy, popularly known as Viveka, was the uncle of Avinash Reddy as well as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
After confirming his role in Vivekananda Reddy’s murder, the CBI arrested Bhaskar Reddy in Kadapa on 16 April and brought him to the city. It later produced him before the court, which remanded him to judicial custody.
Two days before the arrest of Bhaskar Reddy, the CBI nabbed his aide G Uday Kumar Reddy. With the help of Google Takeout, the CBI identified that Uday Kumar was present at Bhaskar Reddy’s house a day before Vivekananda’s murder.
The premier investigating agency then intensified the probe and arrested Bhaskar Reddy. His son Avinash Reddy was arrested on 3 June after he appeared before the CBI in connection with the same murder case. He was released on the same day as he was granted anticipatory bail on 31 May.
The CBI, which is probing the murder case, charged Bhaskar Reddy under Sections 120B (conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), claiming he played a crucial role in the case.
The case is related to the murder of Vivekananda Reddy, a former Andhra Pradesh minister and a former member of Parliament of the Kadapa constituency.
On the intervening night of 14 and 15 March, 2019, Vivekananda Reddy was brutally murdered at his residence. His body was found in a pool of blood in the bathroom adjacent to his bedroom.
Vivekananda Reddy was the younger brother of the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, former chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh.
Vivekananda Reddy was an MLA of the Pulivendula constituency in 1985 and 1994, and a Member of the Lok Sabha from the Kadapa Parliamentary constituency in 1999 and 2004.
He was a member of the AP Legislative Council in 2009. He served as Minister of Agriculture and Member of the Parliamentary Committee on Science and Technology, Environment & Forest constituted by the Central government in 2005.
Avinash Reddy’s and his father Bhaskar Reddy’s names figured in the murder case that created a sensation before the Assembly elections and general elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019.
After the murder, the police registered an FIR in the Pulivendula Urban Police Station with crime number 84/2019, initially under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure based on the complaint by MV Krishna Reddy, who was the personal assistant of the deceased.
Subsequently, the section of the law was altered to 302 of the IPC.
Initially probed by as many as three Special Investigation Teams (SIT), the Supreme Court finally transferred the case from Andhra Pradesh to a Special CBI Court in Hyderabad last November for investigation and trial into the conspiracy behind the murder case.
The apex court’s decision came on a petition by Viveka’s daughter, Dr Narreddy Sunitha Reddy, who had in the past alleged that Avinash Reddy was hampering the CBI probe.
Sunitha Reddy was also instrumental in having the investigation, which was being probed by SITs set up by the Andhra Pradesh police, transferred to the CBI.
The CBI has also said that a ₹40 crore “supari” (contract to kill) was offered to the accused to eliminate Viveka.
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