Jagan files plea seeking probe by independent agency into Vivekananda killing

YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy Tuesday filed a plea in the Andhra Pradesh High Court seeking a probe by an independent agency into the killing of his uncle and former minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy recently.

In his petition, Jagan alleged that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was trivializing the gruesome murder and using it for political gains.

Doubting whether the facts behind the murder would come out in the probe by the AP Police Special Investigation Team, the leader of opposition sought a probe by an independent agency that did not report to the state government.

Jagan Mohan Reddy named the Telugu Desam Party, Naidu, the AP director general of police, the Union government, the CBI and others as respondents in the petition.

Y S Vivekananda Reddy, the younger brother of former chief minister M Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, was found dead at his house in Kadapa district on March 15.

Police initially registered a case under Section 174 CrPC (unnatural death) when Reddy's body was found by his staff early in the morning.

After post-mortem, the police confirmed that the case was altered to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which relates to murder.

The YSR Congress chief sought a CBI probe in the case but the state government, which rejected the demand, constituted a special investigation team under the supervision of CID Additional DG Amit Garg.

The SIT is currently engaged in the investigation and is probing the case from various angles, including business disputes.

It has already questioned three cousins of the slain leader and recorded their statements. The SIT is now questioning some close aides of the former minister based on circumstantial evidence and clues at the scene of crime, police said.

The killing triggered a war of words between the TDP and the YSRC in the ongoing campaign for the April 11 general elections in the state.