PNS|Vijayawada
Was this the man who had once been an MP for two terms and an MLA for another two terms apart from being a one-time MLC? Can anyone believe that being the brother of a chief minister he could not afford a decent drink or repay his debts? He was none other than late YS Vivekananda Reddy whose murder is embroiled in a mystery.
What caused this hardship to him? Why did he become almost bankrupt while his family is doing well? These questions have not been addressed in the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is yet to decode the factors leading to his murder.
Several leaders and petty contractors from Kadapa and Anantapur claim that they had offered loans to YS Vivekananda Reddy who was in a constant financial crunch. He had taken loans from Guvvala Gangadhar Reddy, Chettepu Lakshmi Reddy, Chinna Venkata Rama Subba Reddy, Komma Chinnapa Reddy, and Rendla Brahmi Reddy. While some of them were repaid after the death of Viveka, some of the loans are yet to be repaid.
“Even Vivekananda Reddy’s cheque signing powers were withdrawn by his family members,” according to a source, said to be close to his family members. Regular ration to the house also was controlled by the family members who used to place orders with a nearby shop to provide meagre supplies. “He (Viveka) used to drink cheap brands like ‘Wing Commander’ to save the little money he has,” added the source.
Viveka’s interest in rice-pulling business, diamonds and treasure hunt had caused him huge losses and in the course, he raised huge loans to bear the expenditure.
The CBI probe is yet to figure out the total loans raised by Viveka and the reasons for his total bankruptcy. This severe financial crisis led to differences in the family and finally resulted in the withdrawal of the cheque-signing power of Viveka. This further aggravated the situation in the family which feared that Viveka might take an extreme step to write a deed in favour of the second wife and her son.
It may be recalled that YS Vivekananda Reddy staged a dharna in front of another brother Pratap Reddy’s residence in Pulivendula in January 2019.
Some media reported the news. Vivekananda Reddy’s dharna exposed the fact that there are some property disputes between the two brothers for quite some time and are not addressed amicably for many years.
The murder most foul has taken many twists and turns ever since it was committed on March 15, 2019, during the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government. First, the SIT handled the case but nothing came of it. With the change of the government in the State a few months after the murder, the SIT started going hammer and tongs to find the truth behind the murder. And then, all of a sudden, Viveka’s daughter YS Suneetha, his first wife Sowbhagyalakshmi, and even TDP leader Adinarayana Reddy wanted a CBI inquiry into the incident and it was duly agreed to by the Supreme Court, a decision wholeheartedly welcomed by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government.
However, the manner in which the CBI inquiry is progressing reportedly without taking into account property disputes in the family and the motives behind the murder is not only baffling, to say the least.
