YS Viveka murder case: CBI summons YS Avinash Reddy again for questioning on May 16, 2023

HYDERABAD: After a brief respite, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is once again looking to press the pedal in its probe into the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case. The central agency has served a fresh notice on YSRCP MP from Kadapa YS Avinash Reddy, summoning him to appear before it at its Hyderabad office at 11 am on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

The beleaguered MP has already been questioned twice by the CBI in connection with the case. The probe agency claims to be possessing clinching evidence on the Kadapa MP’s complicity in the killing of his uncle and former minister. On April 28, 2023, the Telangana High Court refused anticipatory bail to YS Avinash Reddy, citing a Supreme Court order in this regard. The high court had earlier given him interim immunity from arrest by the CBI while hearing his anticipatory bail petition.

However, the high court decision, asking the CBI not to arrest the Kadapa MP until it delivered its final order on the petition, was challenged in the Supreme Court by Dr Sunitha Reddy, the daughter of the slain former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy. The Supreme Court, while finding fault with the Telangana High Court single judge’s discretion, set aside the directions restricting the probe agency from proceeding against YS Avinash Reddy. The apex court ruling effectively cleared the legal hurdles and gave rise to expectations that it was only a matter of time before the CBI could act decisively against the YSRCP MP.

Meanwhile, in a related development, a CBI court in Hyderabad on Monday dismissed the bail petition of Uday Kumar Reddy, one of the accused in YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case. The CBI had earlier arrested both Uday Kumar Reddy, a close associate of YS Avinash Reddy, and YS Bhaskar Reddy, the father of the MP, in connection with the case. The CBI accuses Uday Kumar Reddy and YS Bhaskar Reddy, together with YS Avinash Reddy, of erasing the evidence at the crime scene on the day of the murder, among other charges.