New twist in Viveka murder case, blame on CBI and YS Viveka family

Vijayawada: The murder case of former MP Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy took a new turn with Kallur Gangadhar Reddy, a close associate of Y.S. Avinash Reddy family, seeking protection from the CBI and the family member of the late MP.

Gangadhar, who migrated to Yadiki in Anantapur district from Pulivendula, told Anantapur SP Dr Fakeerappa Kaginelli that he was being forced to be a witness to give a statement against the role of Kadapa MP Y.S. Avinash Reddy, Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy and Devineni Shivashankar Reddy.

He alleged that he was receiving threat calls from the CBI officer probing the case and also Kadapa and Anantapur police officers who are pressuring him to be a witness giving a false statement targeting Avinash Reddy and two others.

Gangadhar Reddy, who worked for Y.S. Vijayamma in the bypolls against Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, told the Anantapur SP that Vivekananda Reddy’s daughter Y.S. Sunitha was pressuring him.

Gangadhar Reddy said Devineni Shivashankar Reddy, one of accused in the murder case, had approached him in 2019 and offered Rs 10 crore to eliminate Vivekananda. He was supposed to enact a robbery scene and make the murder look like a resistance to a robbery.

“Shivashakar Reddy asked me to create robbery scene at Vivekananda Reddy’s residence after killing him but I refused the offer,” he recalled and added the then Special Investigation Team circle inspector Sreeram, who is presently working at Madakasira, harassed and threatened him to confess.

After the case was transferred to the CBI, additional SP Ram Singh contacted him on WhatsApp on October 2 and 3 and also went to his house at Yadiki to direct him to implicate Y.S. Avinash Reddy and two others, he stated.

Gangadhar Reddy further stated that he got notices on November 24 to attend the CBI camp office as part of the investigation, but could not as he was ill. On the same day, a person named Babu Reddy who came to his house, handed him Rs 15,000 and said Y.S. Sunitha asked him to respond to the CBI summons.

“When I went to Pulivendula in a hired vehicle on November 25, I met Sunitha in a car on Pulivendula ring road. She offered me Rs 10 lakh and promised to take of the treatment for his brief illness if I become a witness in the case,” he said. After meeting the CBI team at Kadapa central prison, they brought him to R&B guest house and showed a printed statement and asked him to sign it,” Reddy said but he refused to oblige. The CBI team had given a two-page letter to him about the statement to brief the court.

On returning home by taking the two-page information from CBI, Gangadhar Reddy said he was receiving threatening calls from strangers and a team was wandering around his house for the past five days.

Reacting to the representation of Gangadhar Reddy, Anantapur SP Dr Fakeerappa Kaginelli said a sub-divisional officer would be deputed to investigate the issue and protection will be provided to him with police watch at his residence. “We will enquire in detail the following representation by Gangadhar Reddy. He also named two police officers and police threatening him to testify before the court. Thorough enquiry will be done in all aspects,” the SP said.