Why is CBI mollycoddling Kadapa MP Avinash Reddy who is holed up in Kurnool hospital, asks TDP

TDP national spokesperson K Pattabhi Ram Thursday wondered why the CBI can’t take Avinash Reddy into custody and accused the central government of setting a bad precedent if its premier agency is unable to reach someone who is an accused in a murder case in spite of knowing where the person is hiding.

“Will the Government of India take the same approach if a dreaded criminal or terrorist is hiding at a place? Why is the CBI displaying itself as weak and at the mercy of the Superintendent of Police of Kurnool? It is not only showing the CBI in a bad light but also setting an example for others to avoid the law with the help of a small private army protecting you outside where you are hiding,” Pattabhi Ram told The Indian Express.

The Kadapa MP continues to dodge the CBI summons for the fifth day as he is with his mother at the Viswabharathi Superspeciality Hospital at Kurnool where she is admitted with a heart ailment. Reddy’s bail petition is to be heard by the Supreme Court (SC) later on Thursday. The TDP has demanded that if the SC does not grant him relief, the CBI should move in and take Avinash Reddy into custody.

Pattabhi Ram said that the TDP is concerned about the well-being of Avinash Reddy’s mother Lakshmi. “We want her to get well soon. But if anything happens to her Avinash Reddy should be the one to blame. Why is he not shifting her to Apollo or other super-speciality hospitals in Hyderabad instead of admitting her to a small hospital at Kurnool? Does he not want better treatment for his mother?” Ram asked.

Ram pointed out the instance when the Central Government repeatedly blocked the bail petition of AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia when his wife was seriously unwell saying that “there were other family members to take care of her”. So what is stopping the CBI from going to the hospital to take custody of Avinash Reddy, Ram asked.

The TDP has also accused the CBI of slow-pedalling in the investigation of Y S Vivekananda Reddy’s murder. Its leaders met Governor Justice (retired) Abdul Nazir and submitted a representation.

Senior TDP leader Bonda Umamaheswara Rao said that Andhra Pradesh is witnessing a strange situation where in the CBI is getting scared of the ruling YSRCP.  “Several shocking facts are coming to light in the CBI investigation in the case. The CBI has come to a conclusion that Avinash Reddy had tried to distort the evidence and that he is the key witness in the case,” Rao said.

Though the CBI has summoned the YSRCP MP thrice, he is escaping on some pretext or the other, Rao said. He accused the state government of putting pressure on the CBI to go slow in the case. “The state police system is trying to protect Avinash, who is an accused in the murder case and we have informed this to the Governor,” the TDP leader said.

Rao said that there was a strange situation prevailing only in Andhra Pradesh. “The CBI officials were sitting in the Kurnool SP office for eight hours on Monday when they went to issue summons to Avinash Reddy, and the police failed to provide security to them,” he said. YSRCP workers created obstructions to the CBI officials but the local police remained mere spectators, he alleged.

TDP politburo member Varla Ramaiah alleged that usually the local police fear the CBI but the situation in Andhra Pradesh is quite the opposite. “Why did the police fail to control the YSRCP workers outside the hospital?” he asked.