Who’s Behind YS Vivekananda Reddy’s Murder?

There is a pattern to the reaction to the ruling Telugu Desam Party and the AP police with regard to the brutal murder of former minister and MP, YS Vivekananda Reddy and other attacks on the YSR family.

The manner in which minister Adinarayan Reddy and the state police reacted to the murder of the popular public figure of the region brings to mind the reaction of party bigwigs and DGP Thakur immediately after the murder attempt of AP Leader of Opposition, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam airport on October 25. DGP Thakur and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu made light of the incident and spoke in a highly irresponsible tone, which could have impacted the line of investigation as analysts have pointed out.

The AP government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by SC Ladha, the Visakhapatnam police commissioner which is believed to have watered down the investigation completely. The case was handed over to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on the directions of the High Court which was responding to a plea by the YSRCP chief, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The NIA probe into the murder attempt of YS Jagan is underway.

In the case of the brutal murder of popular leader YS Vivekananda Reddy, the AP police and ruling party politicians have reacted in a similar manner. The AP government once again constituted an SIT and instead of registering a case under Section 302 (Murder), the police booked a case under IPC Section 174 (suspicious circumstances).

It was only after it was established in the post mortem report that there were 7 deep wounds inflicted on YS Vivekananda Reddy leading to his death, that the police registered a case of murder. This was revealed by SP Rahul Dev Sharma. It was also stated that the slain leader bore wounds on his head, forehead, thigh and hands. SP also disclosed that the police had accessed some fingerprints and other clues which have been sent for examination. In the murder attempt on YS Jagan, a letter surfaced out of nowhere it was produced by the police who claimed that the attacker Srinivasa Rao wrote a 11-page letter which was found in his pocket. The AP police came in for severe criticism for these statements as also for 'producing' such evidence at that time. It was pointed out that the murder attempt on YS Jagan was being watered down by additional DG intelligence.

Similarly, in the case of Vivekananda Reddy police claimed that the slain leader had written a letter even as he was dying. This letter is also raising suspicions in the minds of most observers. It must be pointed out here that YS Vivekananda Reddy was a tall political figure in that area who had been working as the party in-charge of Jammalamadugu constituency. With the growing popularity of YSRCP as well as the slain leader, late Dr YSR's brother, conversely TDP's support base seemed to be melting posing a threat to the leadership of minister Adhinarayan Reddy, analysts say. Another angle which has come to the fore now is that the Chandrababu Naidu government recently granted pardon to the killers of Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy's father, YS Raja Reddy. It set free convicts who were undergoing a life sentence. Among them, is Sudhakar Reddy, who is emerging as one of the prime suspects, according to leaks put out by the police. It is in this context that YS Jagan clearly said that only a probe by a Central agency can bring out the truth in the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy.

Also Read: Righteousness Will Prevail: YS Jagan On TDP’s Murder Politics