Viveka murder case: Relief for Kadapa MP as Telangana High Court extends protection till Apr 25

The lawyers for the CBI presented their arguments and asked the court not to grant anticipatory bail to Avinash saying that more information needs to be collected from him. The agency has also postponed the questioning of the Kadapa MP to Wednesday.

Hyderabad:Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy got relief from Telangana High Court on Tuesday after the court issued an interim order not to arrest him till the 25th of this month in the Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy murder case. The court ordered Avinash Reddy to attend the trial every day till the 25th.

The court also directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) not to arrest him until April 25 and ordered that an audio and video recording of his interrogation should be made. The final decision on the anticipatory bail plea will be taken on April 25, the court remarked while hearing Avinash's anticipatory bail petition.

The court relief came after the CBI postponed the questioning of Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case until Wednesday morning even as the agency argued in Telangana HC against granting Avinash anticipatory bail.

Senior advocate T. Niranjan Reddy presented arguments on behalf of Avinash. "There is no evidence against Avinash except the statement of accused Dastagiri. Reliance on Google takeout data is inappropriate for investigation. Dastagiri's testimony and Google data on Sunil Yadav's movements are contradictory. Is Dastagiri wrong? Is Google data wrong? Family, financial disputes, and extra-marital affairs may have been the reason for Viveka's murder. Being a relative, we immediately went to the place of murder. There is no conspiracy behind cleaning the room," he argued.

Earlier, the lawyers for the CBI presented their arguments and asked the court not to grant anticipatory bail to Avinash saying that more information needs to be collected from him. "Avinash Reddy already knew the conspiracy to kill Viveka. He did not cooperate in the last four hearings. We have collected scientific and technical evidence in the investigation. We need to know why the murder was depicted as a heart attack. On the morning of the murder, Avinash Reddy was said to be near Jammalamadugu. Looking at the mobile tower signals, it seems that he was at home," the CBI lawyer told the court adding that he was using his phone abnormally throughout the night.

Originally, the CBI had summoned Reddy to appear before the CBI regional office at 10.30 am on Monday. However, at the suggestion of the High Court, the agency postponed the hearing. The CBI told the High Court that the investigation will be conducted on Wednesday at 10.30 am.

During the High Court hearing, the counsels of Avinash Reddy, the CBI, and Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter, Suneetha Reddy, who has impleaded in the case, presented their arguments. Reddy’s counsel pleaded with the court to direct the CBI not to arrest him, while the agency submitted to the court that if necessary, they will arrest him.

The CBI counsel told the court that they suspect Reddy’s involvement in the murder conspiracy and believe that he played a key role in causing the disappearance of evidence from the scene of the crime. Suneetha Reddy has also filed an impleading petition in the High Court and has requested the court to hear her arguments before pronouncing its judgment.

Reddy fears arrest in the case as his father, Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy, was arrested in the case on Sunday. In its petition seeking custody of Bhaskar Reddy, the CBI had named Avinash as co-accused. Bhaskar, along with co-accused D. Siva Shankar Reddy, Gangi Reddy, G. Uday Kumar Reddy, and Avinash Reddy, are alleged to have played key roles in causing the disappearance of evidence from the scene of the murder.

The CBI has named Avinash Reddy as an accused in the case for the first time. Avinash Reddy, who is a cousin of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has been questioned by the CBI four times during the last couple of months. However, his statements were recorded as a witness. After his father’s arrest on Sunday, Avinash alleged that the CBI had ignored some key facts in the case and was treating them as the accused.

Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and uncle of the present Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in Pulivendula of Kadapa district on the night of March 15, 2019, a few days before the elections.

The 68-year-old former state minister and former MP was alone at his house when unidentified persons barged in and killed him. The CBI took over the investigation into the case in 2020 on the direction of the Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.

The Supreme Court transferred the case to Hyderabad in November last year while observing that doubts raised by Suneetha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.