Vivekanda Reddy’s murder vitiates poll atmosphere in AP

The death of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's brother Vivekananda Reddy under suspicious conditions has further vitiated the atmosphere in poll-bound Andhra Pradesh.

While the overall atmosphere in the volatile Kadapa district and Rayalaseema region was peaceful barring an incident in Anantapur district, where the police are on round the clock vigil watching out for revenge attacks.

On Saturday, Mantralayam TDP candidate Tikka Reddy and ASP Venugopal were injured when the gun of constable misfired while trying to disperse YSRCP supporters.

Tikka Reddy was rushed to a hospital and is out of danger. The attack occurred in Khaggal village where YSRCP activists opposed the erection of a TDP flag post.

The last rites of Vivekananda Reddy took place in Pulivendula. Thousands attended the funeral that took place in the Raja Reddy family estate.

Later, Y S Jaganmohan Reddy flew to Hyderabad where he met state governor E S L Narasimhan and reiterated the demand for a free and impartial investigation into the death of his paternal uncle.

"The person who died is a four-time legislator and a four-time MP and also the brother of a former CM. The police say they found a letter purportedly written by my uncle before succumbing to injuries. Do you want me to believe that? I can’t trust a person like Chandrababu Naidu. So we demand a CBI probe or else we will move court seeking justice,” Jagan told reporters outside Rajbhavan.

Earlier, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu kick-started his election campaign from the temple town of Tirupati.

He blamed Jaganmohan Reddy for the entire fiasco surrounding the death of Vivekananda Reddy.

“The channel owned by Jagan, its initial reports say that Reddy died of heart attack as time passed they changed the whole story and started blaming us," he said.

"The entire murder scene was cleaned and all the evidence was wiped out. The police were prevented from doing their job inside the house. In fact, the murder occurred in their town and in their home,” Naidu said.

“The state police will bring the culprits to justice. There are indications that it is an insider’s job. The job of those who will benefit by the incident,” Naidu said pointing finger towards Jagan.

Meanwhile, a Special Investigation Team has sped up the investigation. Additional DGP Amit Garg, SIT in charge Abhishek Mohanty visited Reddy's house and questioned the driver, personal assistant and housemaid of the deceased.