CBI sleuths investigating the 2019 murder of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy, popularly known as Viveka, grilled Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy for almost four hours on Saturday, 28 January.
After initially seeking five days’ time when the notice was issued to him under Section 160 on 23 January, Avinash Reddy on Saturday finally appeared before the CBI.
While the YSRCP MP requested the CBI to allow his advocate to accompany him during the questioning, he was denied permission to do so by the investigating agency.
This is the first time that Avinash Reddy has been questioned by the CBI since it took over the investigation into the murder in 2020.
Interestingly, Avinash Reddy, before going to the CBI office in Koti in Hyderabad, called on Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s mother, YS Vijayamma, at her residence in the Lotus Pond area of the city.
“CBI said if there is any need, they will call me again and I’m ready to go whenever they seek my presence. One section of the media is trying to distort the facts and mislead the probe. I will cooperate with the CBI,” said Avinash Reddy outside the CBI office.
Related: Supreme Court transfers Viveka murder case to Telangana
Case transferred out of Andhra
The Supreme Court had last November transferred the case from Andhra Pradesh to the Special CBI Court in Hyderabad for investigation and trial into the conspiracy behind the murder case.
The apex court decision came on a petition by Viveka’s daughter, Dr Narreddy Suneetha, who had in the past pointed fingers at Avinash Reddy, and alleged that he was hampering the CBI probe.
Vivekananda Reddy, the paternal uncle of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy — and brother of late Congress strongman and former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy — was found dead with injuries under suspicious circumstances at his Pulivendula residence on 15 March, 2019, days before the general elections.
In a charge sheet filed before the court earlier, the CBI had stated that Avinash Reddy, along with his associate Devireddy Sivshankar Reddy, floated a theory that Vivekananda Reddy had died of a heart attack while in fact he was found in a pool of blood with injuries.
The CBI also said Vivekananda Reddy was seeking YSRCP’s Kadapa Lok Sabha ticket for himself or YS Sharmila, the sister of Chief Minister Jagan or his mother YS Vijayalakhmi, instead of Avinash Reddy.
3 SITs and 1,300 witnesses
Before the CBI took up the probe, the Andhra Pradesh government constituted three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to investigate the murder.
They examined at least 1,300 witnesses and conducted narco analyses on three suspects.
As there was no progress in the case that was being investigated by the SITs, Viveka’s daughter Suneetha approached the courts, seeking directions to hand over the probe to the CBI as she feared that the case would be sabotaged.
The CBI registered a case on 9 July, 2020, on the orders of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and took over the case registered at Pulivendula Police Station.
She subsequently approached the apex court seeking directions to shift the trial to another state.
In November 2022, the Supreme Court transferred the trial of the murder case from Andhra Pradesh to the Special CBI Court in Hyderabad.
During the hearing, arguing on behalf of Suneetha, senior counsel Siddharth Luthra told the apex court that the Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy — also a member of the extended family — was interfering in the investigation.
The CBI could not complete the investigation because of the hurdles Avinash Reddy had created by influencing witnesses and local authorities, Luthra claimed.
He further argued that witnesses were being threatened.
The local inspector, Shankaraiah, who was suspended for not conducting a proper inquiry at the time of the incident, was later given a promotion by the state government.
The CBI has until now recorded the statements of over 248 people in the case.
