The Andhra Pradesh government on Tuesday, February 15, transferred Kadapa jail Superintendent Varuna Reddy to Ongole jail, following criticism from the opposition TDP that he had been brought in as part of a conspiracy to eliminate the accused in the murder of former MP YS Vivekananda Reddy. Varuna Reddy was appointed as the Superintendent of Kadapa jail only 10 days ago. Ongole jail Superintendent Prakash has now been appointed the Superintendent of Kadapa jail.
His transfer came three days after Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President and former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the "tainted jailor" was brought to Kadapa jail to as part of a conspiracy to eliminate the accused in the murder of former minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy. Naidu recalled that Varuna Reddy was the jailor when the sensational murder of Moddu Seenu took place in Anantapur jail in 2008. Moddu Seenu was an accused in the murder of former Minister and TDP leader Paritala Ravi.
Meanwhile, TDP Politburo member Varla Ramaiah on Tuesday, February 15, urged the Central Bureau of Investigation Director to take steps to prevent "life threat" to the three accused currently lodged in the Kadapa jail in connection with the Vivekananda Reddy murder case. Hours before Varuna Reddy's transfer, Ramaiah wrote a letter to the CBI Director, seeking his shifting in view his questionable antecedents.
The TDP leader also urged the CBI to shift the murder accused, Devireddy Siva Shankar Reddy, Gajjala Umashankar Reddy and Sunil Yadav, to Rajahmundry Central Prison. These three would not be safe in Kadapa jail as long as Varuna Reddy would continue as the Superintendent, he wrote.
Ramaiah said Varuna Reddy was earlier suspended for dereliction of duty and for allowing a cement dumbbell into the prison barracks when he was jailor at Anantapur prison. That dumb bell was used to brutally kill Julakanti Srinivas Reddy alias Moddu Seenu in his prison room. The TDP leader said that shockingly, the present government has withdrawn all the punishments awarded to Varuna Reddy and started patronising him.
Vivekananda Reddy, who was found murdered in his residence at Pulivendula on March 15, 2019, was a former MP and a paternal uncle of Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. When Jagan was opposition leader, he had demanded and filed a court petition seeking a CBI probe into Vivekananda Reddy’s murder but after becoming CM, withdrew his petition. On the directions of the High Court, CBI took over the investigation of the case in 2020. The CBI has so far arrested five accused in the case.