CBI seeks ninhydrin test on Viveka's letter written before his murder

HYDERABAD: The CBI, which is probing the murder of Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy, approached the CBI court here on Friday seeking the court’s nod to run a ninhydrin test on the letter retrieved from the crime scene. The ninhydrin test enables  investigators to lift fingerprints from the paper by looking for ‘amino acids’ which are components of proteins.

The letter was reportedly written by Vivekananda Reddy before his death. The letter (reproduced verbatim) states: “My driver thrashed me so badly for asking him to join the duty early. Had to work so hard to write this letter. Don't spare driver Prasad.”

CBI officials suspected the genuineness of the letter and felt that the killers had tried to divert the case and escape the law by planting it at the murder spot.

They had sent the letter to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Delhi on February 11, 2021. The CFSL report mentioned that the letter was indeed written by Vivekananda Reddy but under pressure.

At that time itself, the CBI had sought CFSL to identify the fingerprints on the letter and a ninhydrin test for the same. But, the CFSL made it clear that the test procedure could damage the writing and the ink on the letter because they had to use the liquid chemical.

Now the CBI has approached the CBI court for a ninhydrin test, which is a chemical test that helps find amino acids.

The agency submitted to the court that it was necessary to compare the fingerprints of the murder accused with those found on the letter. After asking the accused of their stand on the CBI petition, the court adjourned the matter to June 2, for further hearing.