CBI summons Avinash Reddy in Vivekananda Reddy murder case

Amaravati, Jan 23: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has summoned Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy for questioning in his uncle and former Andhra Pradesh minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy's murder case.

Avinash Reddy, a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been asked to appear before CBI officials in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP, however, is reported to have conveyed his inability to appear on January 24 due to his busy schedule in Pulivendula and has sought another date. He assured the central agency that he will fully cooperate with it in the investigation.

The CBI served the notice on the day when it conducted search at the offices of Avinash Reddy and his father Bhaskar Reddy.

Vivekananda Reddy, uncle of Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Kadapa on March 15, 2019, a few days before the election.

The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him. He was killed hours before he was to launch YSR Congress Party's election campaign in Kadapa.

Though three Special Investigation Teams (SITs) conducted the probe, they failed to solve the mystery.

The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy's daughter Sunitha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.

The CBI filed a charge sheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022

In November, 2022, the Supreme Court transferred to a CBI court in Hyderabad the trial and probe into the larger conspiracy behind the murder. The apex court observed that doubts raised by Sunitha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.