The Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at 10 locations across the two states that included premises linked to YSR Congress MP YS Avinash Reddy. The searches at the Kadapa MP's residences in Pulivendula Kadapa and Hyderabad were under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act or PMLA in connection with the 2019 murder of former MLA and MP YS Vivekananda Reddy. Avinash Reddy is a cousin and a close confidant of former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Raids were also held at the homes of Shankar Reddy and Sunil Reddy.
The ED said incriminating documents and digital devices were seized, along with Rs 24 lakh in unaccounted cash and two locker keys from the premises of Avinash Reddy.
Vivekananda Reddy was the paternal uncle of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and found murdered at his residence in Kadapa on March 15, 2019.
Following an order from the Andhra Pradesh High Court in March 2020, the CBI took up further investigation and subsequently filed three chargesheets, naming, among others, YS Avinash Reddy, YS Bhaskar Reddy (father of Avinash), D Siva Shankar Reddy, T Gangi Reddy and Y Sunil Yadav as accused.
The chargesheets, as cited by the ED, alleged that a conspiracy was hatched to eliminate Vivekananda Reddy amid political differences and refer to an alleged Rs 40 crore payment promise. The ED has registered a money-laundering case based on the CBI's FIR and chargesheets.
The investigation is in progress.
