Amaravati (AP): Y S Vivekananda Reddy, former minister and younger brother of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister M Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was Friday found dead at his house in Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh. Police initially registered a case under Section 174 Cr P C (unnatural death) when the body of Reddy was found by his staff early in the morning.
After a post-mortem in the local government hospital, police confirmed the case was altered to Section 302 IPC that relates to murder. His party, the YSR Congress, demanded a CBI investigation into the case even as the Andhra Pradesh government constituted a Special Investigation Team, headed by CID Additional Director General of Police Amit Garg, to probe the death.
This was the third unnatural death in the YS family that has a powerful political hold in Kadapa district.
While the father Y S Raja Reddy was murdered in 1998, the eldest son M Y S Rajasekhara Reddy was killed in a helicopter crash in 2009.
Vivekananda Reddy was a two-time MLA, two-time MP and a one-term MLC.
He served as agriculture minister in the N Kiran Kumar Reddy government in united Andhra Pradesh.
The 68-year old YSR Congress leader is survived by his wife and a daughter. Police said injuries were found on the forehead, head and its back, besides on the hand and thigh.
“We have gathered some clues in the case. We are questioning the former ministers household staff. Some fingerprints were also collected from the scene,” Kadapa District Superintendent of Police Rahul Dev Sharma said.
“We have taken the case seriously and are investigating it from all angles,” Sharma added. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu spoke with Director General of Police R P Thakur and other senior officials and asked them to conduct a thorough investigation into the former minister’s deaths and not spare the guilty, said a CMO communique.
Naidu recalled Vivekananda’s services as a public representative and extended sympathies to the bereaved family.
His death sparked a political row between the TDP and the YSRC. “He actively took part in election campaign in Jammalamadugu on Wednesday.
That he died suddenly gives rise to several suspicions. So we want a CBI investigation to bring out the facts,” YSRC spokesperson Vasireddy Padma demanded. (PTI)
