KADAPA: YS Vivekananda Reddy, former MP and uncle of Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his house in Pulivendula in the early hours of Friday. The 68-year-old senior politician was alone at his house when he was attacked allegedly with blunt weapons leading to his death, according to police.
Though initially party leaders came out with the announcement that Vivekananda Reddy died of cardiac arrest, later the police were approached by the veteran leader’s personal assistant alleging foul play.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police R P Thakur constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by additional DGP and CID chief Amit Garg, to conduct a thorough probe into the murder of Vivekananda Reddy.
Taking charge of the investigation, Garg rushed to Pulivendula by Friday night. Garg will be assisted by five teams, including three from Vijayawada, in the investigation. According to Vivekananda’s personal assistant MV Krishna Reddy, the former MP took part in YSRC’s campaign in Proddutur and Chapadu mandals on Thursday.
Around 11 pm, Vivekananda reached home and he was alone as his wife Sowbhagyamma was away in Hyderabad.
What we know so far
11 pm (Thursday): Viveka returns home after campaigning in Proddutur and Chapadu mandals
5.30 am (Friday): His personal assistant tries to wake up the veteran leader
6-6.30 am: He along with cook’s son enters the house from side-door and finds Viveka in a pool of blood in the bathroom
The Opposition YSR Congress, led by its chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and others, alleged a bigger conspiracy behind the murder of Vivekananda Reddy and said the probe should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a fair investigation. The incident kicked off a political storm with YSRC claiming that it was a political murder orchestrated by the State government while Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu pointing fingers at the family members of the deceased.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, who rushed to Pulivendula from Hyderabad by road, alleged that the Chandrababu Naidu government was resorting to politics of murders. “They killed a soft-spoken person with a 30-year political career in the most gruesome manner when he was alone in the house. He was axed to death brutally and the police are probing the case without any seriousness,’’ he alleged.
Jagan said that the police produced a letter purportedly written by Vivekananda Reddy just before his death naming his driver as the accused. “The assailants killed my uncle brutally adjacent to the bed and tried to create the impression that he collapsed in the washroom and suffered head injuries (both on the front and back) after hitting the commode. In such a scenario, how can a person write a letter and would the assailants be mute spectators?’’ he questioned and alleged that there was a deliberate attempt to mislead the investigation.
Jagan also claimed that when he was speaking to the SP and other senior officials, the SP received two to three calls from intelligence chief AB Venkateswara Rao. “This shows that the probe is being misled,’’ he alleged.
“Whoever is involved in the murder and however influential they may be, they should be brought to book,’’ Jagan demanded.
Pall of gloom over Pulivendula
The younger brother of former Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy, he is known as soft-spoken and gentlemen. Vivekananda Reddy was born on August 8, 1950, in Pulivendula and did his graduation in Agriculture in SV Agricultural College, Tirupati.
He won as MLA in 1989, 1994 from Pulivendula and represented as Kadapa MP in 1999 and 2004. In 2009, he became MLC and served as Agriculture Minister in Congress government.
YS Jaganmohan Reddy along with his mother YS Vijayamma and others left for Pulivendula from Hyderabad.
According to party general secretary V Viajayasai Reddy, final rights of Vivekananda will be performed on Friday evening on Saturday morning. He is survived by his wife and daughter.
The sudden death of Vivekananda Reddy might force the YSRC to postpone YS Jagan's scheduled kickstart of his campaign from Idupulapaya on Saturday, sources said.