Suspect in murder of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle Vivekananda Reddy commits suicide

A suspect in the murder of YS Vivekananda Reddy, the uncle of Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, committed suicide on Monday night in Kadapa district, his family members have said.

S Srinivasulu Reddy, 52, a resident of Kasunuru village of Simhadripuram block, died on Tuesday morning while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Proddatur town. The village comes under Pulivendula assembly constituency which is represented by the chief minister.

Vivekanand Reddy, the younger brother of Jagan’s father and former chief minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy, was found murdered at his residence on March 15 this year.

Srinivasulu Reddy is a close relative of K Parameswara Reddy, one of the accused in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. Police had taken Srinivasulu Reddy into custody on the basis of call data record obtained from Parameshwar Reddy during interrogation and questioned him in connection with the murder.

His wife Padmavathi told reporters at Proddatur her husband was summoned by local police officers two days ago and subjected to torture. “Unable to bear the humiliation, he committed suicide,” she alleged.

Padmavathi also produced two letters reportedly written by Srinivasulu Reddy, addressed to the chief minister and YS Bhaskar Reddy, the younger brother of Vivekananda Reddy. He wrote he had no connection with the murder of the former Kadapa MP and had a lot of respect for the YSR family.

“I am committing suicide as I am unable to bear the humiliation and torture by the police in the name of interrogation,” he said in one of the letters.

Kadapa superintendent of police Abishek Mohanty and Pulivendula DSP Vasudevan could not be reached for comments.

Further details are awaited.

Police have so far questioned 60 people and arrested three in connection with Vivekananda Reddy’s murder. The arrested were released on bail on June 27.

First Published: Sep 03, 2019 13:42 IST