YSR Congress party parliament member from Kadapa and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cousin Y S Avinash Reddy seems to be playing hide and seek with the Central Bureau of Investigation which is probing the murder case of his uncle and former minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy.
According to sources, Avinash has decided to avoid appearing before the CBI for questioning till the high court decides on his anticipatory bail petition. The hearing on the bail petition has been posted to June 2.
On Saturday, the CBI issued a fresh notice to Avinash Reddy asking him to appear before the investigating officer at its regional office in Hyderabad at 11 am on May 22.
Sources said Avinash is unlikely to oblige to the notice and might seek more time to appear before the agency on various other pretexts.
“This will go on till June 2, when the high court takes up the hearing on his bail petition. If he gets a reprieve, he can avoid arrest; if he doesn’t, he would move the Supreme Court, thereby further postponing the impending arrest,” sources said.
The MP was supposed to appear before the CBI on Friday, but he conveniently avoided attending the CBI questioning at the eleventh hour on the grounds that his mother Srilakshmi had suddenly fallen ill at his hometown of Pulivendula in Kadapa district.
Instead of going to the CBI office, Avinash Reddy left for Kadapa. The CBI authorities followed him till Kurnool but returned to Hyderabad later in the evening.
This was the second time in a week that Avinash Reddy, cousin of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, has skipped the CBI interrogation.
He was originally asked to appear before the CBI on May 16, but he expressed his inability to appear at such a short notice because he had other pre-scheduled engagements in his parliamentary constituency. The CBI gave him time till May 19.
