New Delhi: A man who was examined by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the murder of Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy – chief minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s uncle – killed himself on Monday, alleging he was being harassed by the police.Former Kadapa MP Vivekananda Reddy was murdered on March 15, in the run-up to the general and assembly elections. He was the younger brother of former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy. After his death, both the Telugu Desam Party and the YSR Congress Party accused each other of planning the murder.The deceased, Srinivasulu Reddy, is a relative of the prime accused, Parameswara Reddy. Parameswara Reddy was a close associate of Vivekananda Reddy.Srinivasa Reddy’s family, speaking to the media, released copies of an apparent suicide note. According to The News Minute, the letter says he was being harassed by investigation officials, who threatened to register false complaints against him in the murder case. Srinivasulu Reddy had been summoned for question questioning several times based on call data records obtained from Parameswara Reddy.The letter says Srinivasulu Reddy killed himself “instead of bearing punishment and humiliation for what he had not done”.According to The Hindu, the letters were addressed to Jaganmohan Reddy and the chief minister’s paternal uncle Y.S. Bhaskar Reddy. In these letters, Srinivasulu Reddy said he was innocent, adding “he had no role whatsoever in the murder, but was framed”. The prime accused, Parameswara Reddy, has also claimed that he is being falsely implicated in the case.Police deny Srinivasulu Reddy was a suspectHowever, Kadapa police officials denied that the deceased was an accused or a suspect in the Vivekananda Reddy murder case. Kadapa superintendent of police Abhishek Mohanty told The News Minute that a lot of people were questioned as part of the investigation. “… a lot of things have to be done with regard to examination of the people. A lot of people have been questioned and he was also one of them,” he said.The SP said a case of suspicious death has been registered. “Facts of the case will be verified and the investigation will be carried out accordingly,” he said.The SIT probing the Vivekananda Reddy murder case became active after the YSR Congress was voted to power. So far, it has not made much progress. While 60 people were questioned in the case, the police have not yet filed a chargesheet. Because of the absence of a chargesheet, a court granted bail on June 27 to Vivekananda Reddy’s personal assistant Krishna Reddy and two others who were arrested and jailed on charges of tampering with evidence at the crime scene.
