Hyderabad: The CBI has included YSRCP's Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy as the 8th accused in the murder case of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy. On the other hand, Avinash Reddy's father YS Bhaskar Reddy, who has already been arrested, has been named as the 7th accused. This has been disclosed in the counter filed by the CBI in Bhaskara Reddy's bail petition.
According to the evidence available so far, the accused - Gangireddy, Sunil Yadav, Umashankar Reddy, and Dastagiri - executed the murder plan and destroyed the evidence. Then, they spread the word that Viveka had died of a heart attack while Avinash Reddy and Bhaskara Reddy advanced the conspiracy theory behind the murder, the CBI told the court.
The investigation into the role of Bhaskar Reddy and his son Avinash Reddy behind Viveka's murder is still going on, the CBI said. It has once again clarified that the current AP Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy knew about Viveka's death before the victim's personal assistant MV Krishna Reddy revealed it at 6.15 am.
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The central agency further said that Bhaskar Reddy can influence the witnesses in the Kadapa district, especially in Pulivendula and also there were many instances of intimidation of witnesses and attempts to sidestep the investigation along with other accused. The protests held in the Kadapa area during his arrest would speak volumes about his reputation and, if bail is granted at this stage, the investigation will be severely disrupted, the CBI said.
The agency said that the Supreme Court rejected the bail plea filed by accused Sivashankar Reddy. Even if bail is granted with conditions to Bhaskar Reddy, there will be no use and Bhaskara Reddy has not cooperated in the investigation before. Stating that it would not be appropriate to grant him bail as long as he has been in jail since April 16, the CBI sought the dismissal of Bhaskara Reddy's bail petition considering all the factors.
Meanwhile, Viveka's daughter Sunitha requested the court not to grant bail to YS Bhaskar Reddy. She said that the investigation of Viveka's murder case is still going on and if bail is granted at this stage, it will affect the witnesses and the investigation. In her written arguments, she mentioned the statements given by several people that Bhaskara Reddy was involved in the conspiracy.
The main points mentioned by the CBI in the counter were that the accused Udaykumar Reddy and Sivashankar Reddy were at the house of Bhaskar Reddy and Avinash Reddy before the news of Viveka's death came out. Immediately after receiving the information from the third person, they went to the scene and destroyed the evidence. Gangireddy told the co-accused at around 5.30 am that he had spoken to Avinash Reddy and Shankar Reddy and that they would take care of the destruction of the evidence. The destruction of evidence at the crime scene was an integral part of the conspiracy, the CBI counter said.
