HYDERABAD, ANANTAPUR: The CBI filed a strong counter before the Telangana High Court urging it not to grant anticipatory bail to Y.S. Avinash Reddy accused of the murder of Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.
The probe agency stated in its 78-page counter that the allegations against Avinash were serious and he was not cooperating in the investigation. He has been resorting to tactics like challenging his examination and being issued a u/s 160 CrPC notice without him having any substance as the sole intention was to derail the investigation.
Simultaneously, the CBI has been questioning several persons in Pulivendula in connection with a controversy over a letter allegedly written by Vivekananda Reddy, blaming his driver Prasad for having beaten him up.
The letter was allegedly traced and hidden on the directions of Vivekananda’s son-in-law, husband of daughter Sunitha. Avinash’s counsel said the CBI didn’t initiate any inquiry from this angle even though a letter was found on the spot of the death.
The CBI team questioned Krishna Reddy and Prakash jointly to gain clarity about their previous statements and also their roles in the disappearance of the evidence from the scene of the offence. The central agency also questioned Inayathulla, the computer operator of Vivekananda Reddy, a witness in the case.
In addition to Prakash Reddy, the health staff of the EC Gangi Reddy Hospital who tied bandages to the body to allegedly create a feeling of it being a natural death were also questioned.
Meanwhile in the court, citing the Supreme Court judgment in the CBI vs Anupam J. Kulkarni, in which it said “no accused can be permitted to interfere with the investigation and/or the court's process”, the CBI said that he was trying to obstruct the legal process.
Given the involvement of Avinash Reddy that surfaced throughout the course of the inquiry, the CBI decided to further investigate him, and he was given a notice to appear before the CBI at 3 pm on April 17. He filed an anticipatory bail motion before the High Court on the same day.
The CBI is opposing his anticipatory bail because his examination in police custody is required for an expeditious investigation of the case, and also because during earlier examinations, his answers were vague and evasive. Even more critical was that he has not been coming forth on the larger conspiracy behind the murder.
The CBI also claimed that the motive behind the larger conspiracy of Viveka's murder revealed that due to his active participation in politics, especially in Kadapa district, Avinash Reddy, Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy and D. Siva Shankar Reddy (A-5) began conspiring against him.
The CBI further noted that the forensic examination of Google Takeout performed by CFSL, New Delhi, indicated that Yadati Sunil Yadav (A2) had visited the residences of Avinash and Bhaskar Reddy on March 14 and 15, 2019, including at odd hours. Yadav used his mobile phone to communicate with T. Gangi Reddy (A-1), Gajjala Uma Shankar Reddy (A-3) and Shaik Dasthagir (A-4-turned-approver) and exchanged multiple texts with them.
Gangi Reddy and Uday Reddy were also in touch with Siva Shankar Reddy (A-5), who, incidentally, was in regular touch with Avinash and Bhaskar Reddy, the CBI stated.
The agency, in its rebuttal, noted that Avinash was a powerful individual and multiple incidents of witness influence have come to light. On April 16 this year, Bhaskar Reddy was detained at Pulivendula. Gnagadhar Reddy, an associate of Siva Shankar Reddy, J. Shankaraiah, the then CI Pulivendula, and M.V. Krishana, PA of the slain leader and the complainant of the FIR, are all suspected to have been influenced by the accused and co-conspirators.
The CBI further claimed that Avinash Reddy's involvement was similar to that of Siva Shankar Reddy, whose bail was earlier denied by the Supreme Court. Avinash Reddy has four criminal cases against him, the CBI noted in the counter.
