Vivekanada murder case: MP Avinash gets respite till 25 April

The Telangana high court has passed interim orders prohibiting the arrest of YSRCP MP Avinash Reddy till 25 April in connection with the murder case of former MP Vivekananda Reddy.

The court has, on Tuesday, directed that Avinash should appear before the CBI for questioning and should cooperate with the case investigation. The court also reportedly ordered that his questioning should be recorded.

The role of Avinash, a relative of the YS family including CM Jaganmohan Reddy, and currently representing the Kadapa Lok Sabha constituency, a YSR family bastion, in the case is under the CBI scanner.

Also Read | Vivekananda Reddy murder: CBI arrests Jagan's uncle Bhaskar Reddy

Avinash's father Bhaskar Reddy, an uncle of Jagan, was arrested by the CBI on Sunday. The sitting MP moved the anticipatory bail petition as the CBI also summoned him again for questioning, and amid apprehensions that he too is likely to be arrested.

Meanwhile, a CBI court has on Tuesday allowed the custody of Bhaskar Reddy and another arrested accused Uday Kumar Reddy to CBI for interrogation.

The sensational murder of Vivekananda, a former MP from Kadapa and late chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy's brother, in March 2019 just weeks ahead of the general elections, was initially probed by a AP government formed SIT. The case was handed over to the CBI in 2020, based on a petition of Dr Suneetha Narreddy, daughter of Vivekananda and cousin of AP Jaganmohan.

Vivekananda was found brutally murdered in his Pulivendula house under mysterious circumstances. In November 2022, the apex court transferred the case trial from Kadapa to a special CBI court in Hyderabad, after reviewing Dr Narreddy petition “for a free, fair and fast progress in the case.”

The opposition TDP has been accusing CM Jagan of trying to shield Avinash and others in the case.

“But Jagan has miserably failed in safeguarding his uncle Bhaskar Reddy and his son Avinash Reddy from the murder case of his another uncle Vivekananda Reddy,” said Varla Ramaiah, a TDP politburo member.