Viveka murder case: No arrest till 31 May; Telangana HC reserves order on Avinash Reddy bail application

Vivekananda Reddy, popularly, known Viveka, was Avinash Reddy’s uncle, as also the uncle of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Related: CBI affidavit says Jagan among first to be informed of death of Viveka

‘Avinash Reddy creating impediments’

The CBI argued before the court that Avinash Reddy was creating impediments to the agency from taking the investigation of the murder case forward.

The court, which was unhappy with the delay in taking the investigation to its logical conclusion, asked the CBI counsel whether the investigation agency would cut so much slack in the case of common people too.

The court also wanted to know the motive for Viveka’s murder.

The CBI said that the motive was clearly political. Avinash Reddy wanted to get an upper hand over his uncle in public life and was angered that Viveka was trying to get the Kadapa ticket for Jagan Mohan Reddy’s sister Sharmila or Jagan Mohan Reddy’s mother Vijayamma.

The CBI also said there was reason to believe that there was a political conspiracy behind the defeat of Vivekananda Reddy’s in the MLC elections in the past.

Related: 2020 statement by Vivekananda’s 2nd wife surfaces

‘Trying to buy time’

The CBI argued at length how Avinash Reddy had played hide and seek with them, skipping appearing before them for questioning by showing one pretext or the other.

He was filing petitions in the courts with the intention to buy time. The CBI had interrogated several accused persons and arrested them but when it came to Avinash Reddy, it could not make much progress because of his delaying tactics.

The court also asked the CBI to show the evidence on the basis of which it was making allegations against Avinash Reddy to which its counsel said that it was basing its charges against him on the statements of the witnesses.

It said it would submit the statements in a sealed cover to the court but would not send them to Avinash Reddy.

The court also asked the CBI why there was a delay in gleaning evidence in the case and wanted to know how the CBI could say the motive for the murder was the attempts of Viveka to get Kadapa YSRCP ticket for either Sharmila or Vijayamma.

Replying to the CBI counsel’s arguments, Avinash Reddy’s counsel said that his client had nothing to do with the defeat of Vivekananda Reddy in the MLC elections and that he had no political rivalry.

Related: CBI not to arrest Avinash Reddy in Kurnool, adopts wait-and-watch policy

CBI’s contention

During further investigation into the larger conspiracy aspect, an analysis of mobile phone of Avinash Reddy has revealed that he was active on WhatsApp and had exchanged voice calls just before the murder of Vivekananda Reddy between 12.27 am to 1.10 am on 15 March, 2019, according to the CBI.

The investigation has already established that the four accused executed the murder of Vivekananda Reddy.

In the affidavit, the CBI said that Chief Minister Jagan had been informed about the death of his uncle Vivekananda Reddy in the early hours of March 15, 2019, much before the information about the death broke out around 6.15 am on the same day.

The CBI said that Avinash Reddy was active before and after the commission of murder and his role in informing about the death of Vivekananda Reddy to Jagan Mohan Reddy was to be investigated.

The presence of Y Sunil Yadav, one of the executors of the murder of Vivekananda Reddy, inside the house of Avinash Reddy at 1.58 am on 15 March, 2019, along with the fact that Avinash Reddy was engaged on WhatsApp voice call and it needs to be investigated further for which his examination in police custody is required, the CBI said.

Meanwhile, the scene of action in the CBI’s attempt to arrest Avinash Reddy has shifted to Hyderabad from Kurnool.

Avinash Reddy shifted his ailing mother Sri Lakshmi from a hospital in Kurnool on Friday and got her admitted to the AIG Hospitals in the city.

Related: Scene shifts from Kurnool to Hyderabad as Avinash Reddy’s mother shifted

Synopsis of the case

Viveka was murdered in his bathroom in his house in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

Avinash Reddy’s and his father Bhaskar Reddy’s names figured in the murder case that created a sensation before the Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh in 2019.

Bhaskar Reddy has been charged under Sections 120B (conspiracy), 302 (murder), and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as he played a crucial role in the case, according to the CBI.

The CBI also said that a ₹40 crore “supari” (contract to kill) was offered to the accused to eliminate Viveka.

The Supreme Court last November transferred the case from Andhra Pradesh to a Special CBI Court in Hyderabad 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 a Special Investigation Team set up by the Andhra Pradesh police, transferred to the CBI.