Viveka murder case: CBI questions YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy for 4 hours

Hyderabad: Sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned YSRCP Kadapa Lok Sabha MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy for about four hours in Hyderabad on Saturday in connection with the murder of minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy in 2019. Hours before visiting the CBI office, Avinash Reddy met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s mother Vijayamma at Lotus Pond in Hyderabad.

Speaking to the media, Mr. Avinash Reddy said, “I have cooperated and answered all the questions asked by the CBI. The officials said they would call me back if necessary.” When asked about his request for audio/video recording, Mr. Avinash said, “In recent times, a section of the media is doing character assassination and trying to deviate the case. This is why I requested a transparent process with audio/video coverage and an advocate there.”

The CBI which has already collected the statements of 248 people in connection with Viveka’s murder, questioned Mr. Avinash on the basis of these statements. They also went through his call data at the time of Viveka’s murder. Earlier, Mr. Avinash said many of them are trying to link him and his close members to the murder case.

The CBI issued the first notice on 23 January and asked the YSRCP leader to come to their office on 24 January. However, citing his pre-scheduled appointments and programmes, the MP asked for five days and wrote a letter.

The CBI served another notice on 25 January asking Mr. Avinash to appear before the CBI on 28 January 3 p.m. In a letter, Mr. Avinash asked the CBI officials for a transparent investigation, audio and video recording, and permission to have a lawyer present during the inquiry. However, the CBI did not allow his lawyer to come with him.

The Viveka murder case

YS Vivekananda Reddy was the brother of former chief minister YS Rajashekar Reddy. He was a member of the 14th Lok Sabha and represented the Kadapa constituency of Andhra Pradesh. Vivekananda Reddy was found dead at his home in Pulivendula on 15 March 2019 under mysterious circumstances. He was brutally stabbed to death. His daughter Dr. Suneeta Narreddy, who is also the first cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, moved the High Court on 29 January 2020 seeking a CBI probe. In August 2022, she moved the Supreme Court seeking the shifting of the murder trial to another state.

In November 2022, the Supreme Court transferred the trial from Andhra Pradesh to a special CBI court in Hyderabad. The court observed that a “fair trial was unlikely considering the facts and circumstances put across by the petitioners.”

The CBI, which filed its charge sheet on 26 October 2021, named four people—Yerra Gangi Reddy, Y. Sunil Yadav, G. Uma Shankar Reddy, and Shaik Dastagiri—as the prime accused. One of the accused, Dastagiri, who had worked as a driver for Viveka, turned in as an approver before filing the charge sheet and was granted anticipatory bail by the Pulivendula court. In his confession, the CBI quoted one of the accused, Gangi Reddy, who claimed that Avinash Reddy, his father Bhaskar Reddy, and his associate D. Shiv Shankar Reddy were also involved in the murder plan.

Earlier, in its charge sheet filed before the court, the CBI said Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy, along with his associate D. Shankar Reddy, propagated a theory that the former minister died due to a heart attack.