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Jagan's uncle murder remains a mystery 4 years on; TDP seeks to make it a poll issue
Jagan Reddy alleged the murder was masterminded by then ruling TDP as part of eliminating political rivals.
It has been four years since former Lok Sabha member Y S Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was brutally murdered at his residence in Pulivendula in Kadapa district, but it still remains a mystery.
Vivekananda Reddy (popularly known as Viveka), brother of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, was an MLA state assembly twice from Pulivendula (1989 to 1999), parliament twice from Kadapa (1999-2009) and was also a member of the state legislative council (2009-2015). He served for a brief term as the state minister for agriculture in 2011.
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The murder of Viveka on the intervening night of March 14 and 15, weeks before the elections to the Lok Sabha and state assembly, fetched tremendous political mileage to the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party.
Jagan Reddy had then alleged that the murder was masterminded by then ruling Telugu Desam Party, led by former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, as part of eliminating political rivals. He even demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into his uncle’s murder, saying he had no faith in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police constituted by the then Naidu government to probe the case.
The YSRC also brought out a booklet, “Narasura Raktha Charitra” (The bloody history of a devil called Nara Chandrababu Naidu), and campaigned extensively on social media. And it turned out to be a nemesis for the TDP in the assembly elections.
Four years down the line, the murder of Viveka has turned out to be a major political embarrassment for Jagan, ahead of the assembly elections next year, while the TDP is going all out to gain political mileage this time by turning the tables on the YSRC.
The CBI, which took over the investigation from the state police in July 2020 following directions from the high court, is pointing an accusing finger at YSRC parliament member from Kadapa and Jagan’s cousin Y S Avinash Reddy suspecting him to be the main conspirator.
The ruling YSRC is trying to wriggle out of the crisis by throwing the blame on Viveka’s own family members and alleging that they were hand in glove with the TDP to damage the reputation of Jagan.
What happened on the fateful night?
The CBI, which filed its charge sheet on October 26, 2021 naming four persons – Yerra Gangi Reddy, Y Sunil Yadav, G Uma Shankar Reddy and Shaik Dastagiri -- as the accused in the case, narrated how the murder took place.
According to the CBI, Gangi Reddy first entered the house of Viveka from the main entrance, while the other three entered the premises by jumping the rear wall of the house. “Viveka, who returned home late in the night after taking part in the election campaign, was alone at his residence at that time. There was an argument between him and Gangi Reddy over some money matters. As the argument was going on, the other three attacked Viveka, beat him up and later hit him on his head with an axe. He was forced to write a note on paper in which the blame of death was thrown on driver Prasad,” the agency said in the charge sheet, of which HT has a copy.
“Thereafter, they picked the half dead to the bathroom and again made blows through the axe. After committing the murder, the accused persons searched the house and also tried to break open the almirah and took away some documents,” it said.
Viveka’s personal assistant M V Krishna Reddy, who came to Viveka’s residence around 5.30 am, found the bleeding former MP in the bathroom attached to his bedroom. Within an hour, Viveka’s nephew Avinash Reddy, along with his associate D Shiva Shankar Reddy and others, came to the house.
The CBI charged Avinash Reddy with fabricating the theory that Viveka had died of heart stroke, wiping out all the evidence by getting the bedroom and bathroom cleaned up and getting the bandages applied thoroughly on all the wounds, before shifting the body to the hospital in an ambulance.
“Post-mortem carried out by the team of doctors revealed seven injuries on the head, forehead and palm of the deceased. The doctors opined that the deceased would appear to have died of haemorrhagic shock and injury to the brain caused by a sharp weapon,” the CBI said.
Little progress in the case
The case was initially investigated by a SIT) of the state crime investigation department. The Jagan Reddy government, which came to power in May 2019, revamped the SIT to continue the probe, but it could not make much progress.
In July 2020, the Andhra Pradesh high court handed over the case to the CBI, acting on a petition from the deceased’s wife Sowbhagyamma, daughter N Sunitha and others.
The CBI charged the four prime accused with committing the murder for various reasons, including election-related issues and dispute over some land settlement.
Of the four accused, Dastagiri, who had worked as a driver for Viveka, had turned an approver four days before the filing of the charge sheet and was granted anticipatory bail by the Pulivendula court.
Based on the confession statement of Dastagiri, the CBI quoted accused Gangi Reddy as claiming that Avinash Reddy, his father Y S Bhaskar Reddy and his associate D Shiv Shankar Reddy were also involved in the murder plan.
However, the trial in the CBI court at Kadapa had made little progress, as some of the witnesses and those facing charges filed private cases against the investigating officers in the last two years.
One of the suspects in the murder conspiracy – Kalluri Gangadhar Reddy from Yadiki in Anantapur district -- lodged a complaint with the police alleging that the CBI was trying to fix Avinash Reddy in the case. He alleged that the CBI authorities and Viveka’s daughter Sunitha had offered him ₹10 lakh to make a statement in the court fixing Avinash Reddy and others.
Another YSRC activist G Udaya Kumar Reddy also made a similar complaint with the police in Kadapa alleging that Additional Superintendent of Police of the CBI Ram Singh had been harassing him and forcing him to give a false statement. The Kadapa police booked a criminal case against the CBI official.
Shiv Shankar Reddy’s wife Devireddy Tulasamma also filed a petition in the Kadapa court, seeking inclusion of Sunitha’s husband Rajasekhar Reddy and five others in the case, alleging that they had tried to hide the actual motive behind the murder of the former MP by attempting to conceal the evidence.
As the CBI probe made little progress, Sunitha moved a petition in the Supreme Court in April 2022, requesting that the case be transferred out of Kadapa as those who are facing charges in the case themselves are filing the cases against the CBI officials stating that the central agency was harassing them.
On November 29, 2022, the Supreme Court transferred the case to a special court for CBI cases in Hyderabad and ordered that the charge sheet be transferred from Kadapa to Hyderabad for ease of witnesses. It ordered that the CBI complete its investigation on the larger conspiracy at the earliest and in an unbiased manner.
Following this, the CBI speeded up the probe. Using the latest technology, it claimed to have found some conclusive evidence that one of the accused – Sunil Yadav – had stayed with Avinash Reddy hours before the murder.
The CBI has interrogated Avinash Reddy twice since last week. The agency told the high court that it might arrest the MP to find out the facts in the Viveka murder case. The court, however, directed the CBI not to arrest the MP till Monday next.
Political slugfest
TDP president Chandrababu Naidu, who had to pay a heavy price in the 2019 elections following Viveka’s murder, is now hitting back at the YSRC. On Wednesday, he launched a campaign on social media with the hashtag #JusticeforViveka, which went trending.
He said now the state knows well that the murder of Viveka is part of the bloody history of Jagan. “In the past four years, the Jagan government had done nothing to punish the real culprits of his uncle’s murder,” he said.
YSRC general secretary and advisor to the government Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy said at a recent press conference that the CBI probe was predetermined and motivated. “How can Avinash Reddy plan the murder of his own uncle, who had campaigned for him till the last day?” he asked.
He alleged that the CBI authorities had not taken into consideration the earlier probe done by the SIT but ignored key points in their investigation.
He alleged that Viveka’s personal assistant Krishna Reddy had concealed the letter purportedly written by the deceased and also the mobile phone from the police till the March 15 evening. “The CBI has not questioned him under whose instructions he had hidden the letter and phone,” he said.
In a recent petition filed before the Telangana high court, Avinash Reddy said the CBI is being unfair in its investigation and sought directions from the court to the CBI not to arrest him.
T Niranjan Reddy, senior counsel for Avinash Reddy, informed the court that Viveka had married a Muslim woman for the second time in 2010. They gave birth to a boy. Viveka’s family was divided over his second marriage, resulting in property disputes. “Because of the disagreements over the property, Viveka was murdered,” he said.
Stating that the CBI had not taken into consideration the second marriage, the counsel wanted the CBI to investigate that angle.
