CBI court extends remand of six accused in Vivekananda Reddy murder case
The CBI court extended their remand till July 14, when it would take up fresh hearing of the case. The accused were sent back to Chanchalguda jail.
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A special court for the Central Bureau of Investigation cases in Hyderabad on Friday extended the remand of the six accused in a case pertaining to the murder of former Andhra Pradesh MP Y S Vivekananda Reddy by two more weeks, people familiar with the matter said.
As the period of judicial remand of the accused – Y S Bhaskar Reddy, Yerra Gangi Reddy, Devineni Shivashankar Reddy, Sunil Yadav, Umashankar Reddy and Uday Kumar – ended on Friday, the CBI produced them before the special CBI court and also filed a supplementary charge sheet in a sealed cover.
The CBI court extended their remand till July 14, when it would take up fresh hearing of the case. The accused were sent back to Chanchalguda jail.
The CBI, which has filed two charge sheets earlier in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case, told the court that it would file a separate memorandum before the Supreme Court seeking extension of the deadline for investigation in the case.
The Supreme Court had earlier fixed the deadline of June 30 for the CBI to complete the investigation and commence the trial. The CBI wanted the extension of the deadline for some more time, as the accused were not cooperating with the investigation.
Vivekananda Reddy, brother of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, uncle of present chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered at his residence in Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, weeks before the elections.
The CBI took over the investigation into the case in July 2020 on the direction of Andhra Pradesh High Court while hearing a petition of Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Suneetha Reddy, who raised suspicion about some relatives.
The CBI told the court that YSR Congress party MP from Kadapa Y S Avinash Reddy and his father Bhaskar Reddy had a role in causing disappearance of the evidence. It also claimed that they are trying to influence the witnesses. They, however, denied their involvement.
The Supreme Court in November last year transferred the trial in the murder case from Andhra Pradesh to CBI court in Hyderabad while observing that doubts raised by Suneetha Reddy about getting a fair trial and investigation in Andhra Pradesh were reasonable.
