HYDERABAD: Fresh allegations were placed before the CBI court in Hyderabad during the hearing in the YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case, with senior advocate E Umamaheshwar Rao claiming that the former minister faced severe mental and financial harassment from his daughter YS Sunitha and son-in-law Rajasekhar Reddy.
Appearing for the accused, Umamaheshwar Rao told the court that, according to a statement recorded from Vivekananda Reddy’s second wife Shamim, he was allegedly denied basic necessities such as food, kept isolated from family members and stripped of cheque-signing powers, leading to what was described as a financial blockade.
Counsel further submitted that Vivekananda Reddy wanted to transfer certain properties to her son and extend financial assistance to Shamim, but this was allegedly resisted by his daughter, son-in-law and brother-in-law. He argued that these disputes provided a possible motive, yet the investigation had not examined this line of inquiry.
Counsel also claimed that a letter said to have been written by Vivekananda Reddy shortly before his death was suppressed and described the conduct of the investigating agency towards prime accused Sheikh Dastagiri as “highly suspicious”.