Dr. Nareddy Sunitha, daughter of slain former Andhra Pradesh minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy, has urged elected members of the state assembly and parliament to demand that the CBI reopen its investigation into her father’s brutal murder in March 2019 and complete the probe at the earliest.
In an open letter, Sunitha said that while the killers had been caught, the conspirators remain untouched. “More than six years later, his soul still cries for justice,” she lamented.
“On this Rakhi Day, this sister of yours seeks your support. Stand with me in this fight - not just for Vivekananda Reddy, but to protect the constitutional spirit, democratic ethos, and humanitarian values that define India,” she appealed.
Recalling the events of March 15, 2019, Sunitha said Sakshi TV - managed by Y S Bharathi Reddy, wife of her cousin Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy - announced that her father had died of a heart attack. Several YSRCP leaders repeated the claim on the same channel.
“I rushed from Hyderabad to Pulivendula and found my father’s body with wounds covered in bandages. The truth could not be concealed, and the narrative quickly shifted - now blaming other political parties for his murder,” she said.
The next day, Sakshi newspaper carried a full-page story alleging that TDP leaders were responsible. Jagan Mohan Reddy even filed a writ petition in the high court seeking a CBI probe.
“In the 2019 election campaign, my father’s murder became a political weapon against the TDP. YSRCP won, and my cousin became chief minister. He personally assured me that finding the killers was a matter of personal honour and that failing to do so would be an insult to him,” Sunitha said.
However, she alleged that Jagan reconstituted the SIT just as it was nearing a breakthrough.
“Later, he told me directly that a CBI probe was ‘not an option’ because it might cause Y. S. Avinash Reddy to defect to another party. That was when I realised justice was not being delayed - it was being denied,” she stated.
Sunitha said she moved the high court, which transferred the case to the CBI on March 11, 2020. Her cousin withdrew his own petition seeking a CBI probe, and the YSRCP government “left no stone unturned” in derailing the investigation.
She alleged that false cases were filed against the CBI’s investigating officer, officials were threatened in Kadapa, and the state police refused to help arrest Y S Avinash Reddy, citing “law and order concerns.” Even with the CBI in charge, she said, key leads were ignored.
According to Sunitha, the CBI told the Telangana High Court during Avinash Reddy’s bail hearing that his phone records linked him to the perpetrators.
“Former Chief Secretary Ajay Kallam revealed that Jagan Mohan Reddy knew of my father’s death well before anyone else - a time when only the accused were aware - casting a long shadow of suspicion,” she said.
Yet, without pursuing these leads, the CBI abruptly declared its probe concluded.
“This premature closure ignores the central question: Who conspired to kill Vivekananda Reddy? Why is my father - and my family - being denied justice? For six years, I have knocked on every door. I have been harassed, falsely prosecuted, and targeted by a government my father once helped build,” Sunitha said.
