Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was informed about the death of his uncle and former minister YS Vivekananda Reddy much before the news became public, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told a court on Friday.
The probe agency made the revelation in an affidavit before the Telangana High Court in response to an anticipatory bail petition filed by Kadapa MP YS Avinash Reddy, a member of the Chief Minister's party, who has been named an accused in the case.
Avinash Reddy's father Bhaskar Reddy, who was arrested in connection with the case last month, was shifted to a hospital this morning.
The CBI has said in its affidavit that Avinash Reddy had been active on WhatsApp and had exchanged voice calls before the murder, between 00:27 am To 1:10 am on March 15, 2019.
The probe agency stated that further investigation into the "larger conspiracy" aspect revealed that YS Jagan Mohan Reddy had been informed about the death, much before the information about the death was revealed by YS Vivekananda Reddy's personal assistant at around 6:15 am.
"Since Avinash Reddy was active before and after the commission of murder, his role in informing about the death of YS Vivekananda Reddy to YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is to be investigated," the probe agency told the court.
The CBI has not mentioned any other suspicion or significant aspect regarding the role of the Chief Minister in the case
"Investigation has already established that the four assailants accused who executed the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy in the intervening night of 14/15-03-2019 had trespassers in the house around 01:30 am on 15-03-2019. Further location of mobile phone of the assailant, namely Y Sunil Yadav (A-2) was found inside the house of YS Avinash Reddy/ (and his father) YS Bhaskar Reddy before and after the commission of murder. The IPDR (Internet Protocol Detail Record) analysis has further revealed that YS Avinash Reddy had WhatsApp conversations from 4:11 am onwards on 15-03-2019," the affidavit said.
The development comes at a time when Jagan Reddy is in Delhi to attend NITI Aayog meeting and the inauguration of the new parliament building tomorrow.
Vivekananda Reddy, one of the brothers of the late Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found murdered at his residence in the early hours of March 15, 2019, weeks before the Assembly elections in the state.
The murder case was initially probed by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state CID but was handed over to the CBI in July 2020.
The CBI had filed a chargesheet in the murder case on October 26, 2021 and followed it up with a supplementary charge sheet on January 31, 2022.