TIRUPATI: Chevireddy Mohith Reddy, the former Tirupati Urban Development Authority (Tuda) chairman and the son of YSRC former MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, was briefly detained and subsequently released by police here on Sunday in connection with an alleged attempted murder case.
The case was filed for an alleged assault on Chandragiri Telugu Desam (TD) MLA Pulivarthi Nani at the Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam campus in Tirupati on May 14, a day after the 2024 general elections polling.
Initially, 34 persons, mostly YSRC workers, were arrested by S.V. University police. Mohith's name was later added to the accused list. Mohith, who had applied for anticipatory bail in the High Court with the next hearing scheduled for Monday, He was taken into custody on Saturday night at Bengaluru's Devanahalli Airport. He was en route to Dubai with his father and brother Chevireddy Harshith when the immigration officials intercepted them.
A team led by Tirupati DSP Ravi Manoharachari brought Mohith to the S.V. University police station on Sunday morning. After brief questioning, he was issued a notice under Section 41A of Cr PC, and released with conditions,
including a restriction on foreign travel. Upon hearing the news, Chevireddy supporters attempted to reach the police station, but police barricades on the main roads prevented them.
Speaking to the media, Mohith claimed innocence, stating, "False cases were filed against me and my family. We will fight them in court." He accused the NDA government of harassment under the guise of investigation, denying any attack on TD MLA Nani and noting his name was added as A-37 to the case 52 days after the alleged incident. "On the day of the incident, I was in front of the Joint Collector and couldn't even take my cell phone inside", Mohith added.
Bhaskar Reddy defended his son, stating that 25-year-old Mohith returned to public life after studying abroad. He accused the NDA government of political motives and sarcastically thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu for preparing his son for street protests. He said that Mohith would stand his ground and show the strength of public protests to the government and police.
