HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI/KADAPA: The Directorate of Enforcement (ED), Hyderabad Zonal Office, carried out extensive search operations across seven locations in Hyderabad and Kadapa on Friday under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) in connection with the murder of former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy.
Multi-agency teams targeted the residential premises of key accused, seizing incriminating financial documents, digital devices, Rs 24 lakh in unaccounted cash, and two bank locker keys from the residence of YSRCP Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy.
Vivekananda Reddy, paternal uncle of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was found murdered at his residence on March 15, 2019.
Following an order by the Andhra Pradesh High Court on March 11, 2020, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe, registering an FIR under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
The CBI subsequently filed three chargesheets naming Avinash Reddy, his father YS Bhaskar Reddy, D Siva Shankar Reddy, T Gangi Reddy (Erra Gangi Reddy), Y Sunil Yadav, and others as accused.
According to the CBI chargesheets, Siva Shankar Reddy, a YSRCP functionary, along with Avinash Reddy and Bhaskar Reddy, were apprehensive that Vivekananda Reddy’s entry into the YSRCP could challenge their growing political influence. The CBI alleged they hatched a conspiracy to eliminate him, roping in his staff members Gangi Reddy, Shaik Dastagiri, and Sunil Yadav. Dastagiri later turned approver and was granted pardon by the Special CBI Court.
He disclosed that the conspiracy was hatched about a month before the murder, revealing that Gangi Reddy informed him of Siva Shankar Reddy’s involvement and a promised Rs 40 crore payout for the murder.
Dastagiri was offered Rs 5 crore as his share and received Rs 1 crore from Sunil Yadav—who allegedly kept Rs 25 lakh for himself. Dastagiri passed the remaining Rs 75 lakh to his friend Syed Munna, from whose locker, along with his mother’s, the CBI later recovered Rs 46.70 lakh in cash and unaccounted jewellery. The ED registered a parallel money-laundering case based on the CBI’s FIR and chargesheets.
During Friday’s raids, an ED team arrived at Avinash Reddy’s residence in Pulivendula around 6 am. Finding the house locked, officials waited until the MP’s uncle Manohar Reddy arrived at 7 am and opened the premises after consent from the MP over the phone.
Manohar Reddy told the media that ED officials conducted the visit for document verification, inspecting land records, petrol bunk details, and property assets before returning them. He added that when officers enquired about the alleged Rs 40 crore payout, he asked them to produce concrete evidence.
Simultaneous search warrants were also executed at the properties of co-accused and close associates, including Shiva Shankar Reddy in Pulivendula, Gangi Reddy at T Thummalapalle, Sunil Yadav, and Sunil Reddy, a relative of Jagan. While the CBI had previously informed the court that its primary investigation was concluded, the ED’s active probe into the hawala money trail, property transactions, and money laundering angles has sparked fresh political reverberations in Kadapa district and YSRCP ranks.