Bhaskar Reddy is the father of Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy and uncle of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
UPDATE – Sun 4/16/23 10:03 AM
Photo: Twitter
Gadaba: In a major development in the 2019 murder of former Andhra Pradesh minister YS Vivekananda Reddy, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday arrested his brother YS Bhaskar Reddy.
Bhaskar Reddy is the father of Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy and uncle of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The CBI’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrested Bhaskar Reddy from his residence in Pulivendula, Kadapa district.
CBI officers handed over the arrest memorandum to Bhaskar Reddy’s family and took him into custody.
A large number of supporters of Bhaskar Reddy and Avinash Reddy have arrived at their residences.
The CBI is in the process of transferring Bhaskar Reddy to Hyderabad where he will be brought before the magistrate on Sunday night.
Bhaskar Reddy’s arrest comes two days after police arrested G. Uday Kumar Reddy, a close follower of Avinash Reddy and nephew of the deceased, in recent months Lai was interrogated by the agency several times.
He was taken to Hyderabad and appeared before a CBI court which committed him to judicial custody.
The CBI has stepped up its investigation after the Supreme Court last week formed the agency’s new Special Investigations Team (SIT) and directed it to complete its investigation by April 30.
Bhaskar Reddy is the fifth defendant arrested in the case. He and his son Avinash Reddy had earlier been questioned by the CBI.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of current Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found at his house in Pulivendula, Kadapa district, on the night of March 15, 2019, a few days before the election. The residence was murdered.
The 68-year-old former minister of state and former congressman was alone in his home when unknown persons broke in and killed him.
The CBI took over the investigation of the case at the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in 2020 while hearing the petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy raising doubts about some of the relatives.
The Supreme Court referred the case to Hyderabad in November last year, while observing that Suneetha Reddy’s challenges to access to a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were justified.
In an affidavit filed at the Telangana High Court a few days ago, the CBI objected to the bail application of one of the accused, Sunil Yadav, alleging that Avinash Reddy, Bhaskara Reddy and their henchman D. Siva Sankar Reddy had planned a A criminal conspiracy to kill Vivekananda Reddy due to conflicting political ambitions.
Avinash Reddy and Bhaskar Reddy allegedly had complaints against Vivekananda Reddy because the latter objected to YSRCP’s nomination of Avinash as party candidate from Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency. The former minister wanted Jagan Mohan Reddy to send his sister YS Sharmila or mother YS Vijayamma.
The CBI claimed to have provided Rs 40 crore to the other defendants to carry out the murders.
The investigative body also said in its rebuttal that Vivekananda Reddy was unhappy with his brother Bhaskar Reddy and nephew Avinash Reddy for ruining his chances in the 2017 MLC elections in Kadapa.
Avinash and his father wanted Siva Sankar as an MLC candidate, but when Jagan Mohan Reddy fielded Vivekananda, the trio ensured he was defeated.
Avinash Reddy, who has been questioned by the CBI several times in recent months, has denied the allegations and claims he and his father had no involvement.
