Responding to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's allegation that the family of YS Vivekananda Reddy had wiped off the evidence after his murder, Reddy's only daughter Sunitha has slammed rumour mongering around her father’s death and has appealed against the politicisation of her father’s death. Addressing the media on Tuesday, Sunitha said that false rumours are hindering the investigation being carried out by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) into her father’s murder.
YS Vivekananda Reddy, former MP and uncle of Opposition leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, was murdered on March 15 in Pulivendula, while he was alone at home. While initially it was believed that he succumbed to a cardiac arrest, police investigation concluded that he was murdered. While the YSRCP alleged that the TDP could have been behind the killing, the TDP alleged that Jagan’s family could have killed him for political gains. After Jagan alleged that whenever there was a murder in his family, Naidu was in power, the CM made a counter allegation that Vivekananda Reddy’s family members wiped off the blood on the floor to deflect police investigation into his death.
On the last allegation, Sunitha said, “They [family members] could have panicked and done it, who knows how to react in such situations?”
She also lashed out at news reports which have claimed that there is infighting in the family. She said, "My father's dream was to see Jagan as CM. He worked tirelessly towards it."
"After the incident, it is sad to see the reports being published and aired on TV. It has caused us immense pain. My father was a great man and a great soul. By making baseless allegations, we are denying him dignity in his death," she said.
Demanding a fair investigation into the murder of her father, Sunitha said that the allegations and speculations have been derailing the investigation process.
While the YSRCP has demanded a CBI probe, expressing doubts over the state police, Sunitha said that she was satisfied with the SIT probe. "The SIT is working tirelessly," Sunitha said.
Without naming the Telugu Desam Party, which has been insinuating that Jagan had killed his own uncle to gain sympathy to win the upcoming elections, Sunitha said that before the police completes the probe and nails the culprits, politicians have been drawing conclusions.