Viveka murder case: Telangana HC grants conditional bail to Shivashankar Reddy

Telangana: The Telangana High Court on Monday granted conditional bail to D Shivashankar Reddy, who is accused in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case.

Reddy was allegedly in Viveka's residence on March 15, 2019, in Pulivendula.

After hearing arguments, the court reserved the judgment on January 5, 2024. During the earlier hearings, CBI counsel opposed the petition fearing the accused may threaten witnesses.

CBI has revealed that the accused was present in Vivekananda Reddy's house on March 15, 2019, when the news of the murder had not broken yet. However, the CBI's counsel could not convince the court with his `unclear answers'.

On Monday, a single judge bench of Justice K Lakshman ordered conditional bail for the petitioner.

The petitioner has to execute a personal bond for a sum of Rs 2,00,000 with two sureties. He shall report before Central Crime Station (CCS) Hyderabad, every Monday. He shall not interfere with the trial in S.C. No.1 of 2023 pending on the file of Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases, Hyderabad, in any manner directly or indirectly.

The petitioner was also asked not to enter Andhra Pradesh, where almost all the witnesses in the present case are residing, without permission of the trial Court, during the trial.

The petitioner was also asked to surrender his original passport before the trial Court.

The case:

YS Viveka, the brother of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha. He represented the Kadapa constituency. A member of the Indian National Congress, he was allegedly killed on March 15, 2019, at his residence in Pulivendula, Kadapa district. This murder took place just a few weeks before the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Elections.

CBI filed a charge sheet against eight accused including Thumallapalli Gangi Reddy, Yadati Sunil Yadav, G Uma Shankar Reddy and Shaik Dastagiri, D Siva Shankar Reddy, G Uday Kumar Reddy, YS Bhaskar Reddy, and YS Avinash Reddy. Telangana High Court has granted Kadapa P Avinash Reddy anticipatory bail.

An associate to Avinash Reddy:

During its investigation, CBI discovered that the political move of YS Viveka was a hindrance in the 2019 elections for YS Avinash Reddy (now Kadapa MP) as he was being considered for assembly instead of Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. Therefore, to thwart the plan of Vivekananda Reddy, a criminal conspiracy was hatched with the help of D Siva Shankar Reddy who was an associate of Bhaskar Reddy and and Avinash Reddy, besides having criminal antecedent, to eliminate YS Viveka.