One shot dead in Pulivendula by kin of YS Viveka murder case accused

PULIVENDULA: One person was killed while another was injured after they were fired upon by one Bharath Kumar Yadav in Pulivendula on Tuesday. The incident, which sent shockwaves across Kadapa district, took place near the BSNL facility in the town. Pulivendula is the hometown of Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

The deceased was identified as Dileep who succumbed to the severe bullet injuries while he was being shifted to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Kadapa. Another person, Masthan Basha, is being treated at the Pulivendula Government Hospital and he is said to be out of danger.

The incident happened at around 1:30 pm near the BSNL office in Pulivendula. Both Bharath Kumar Yadav and Dileep were said to be at loggerheads for the last one week over some financial disputes. Bharath Kumar reportedly gave some money as a hand loan to Dileep and he had been putting pressure on the latter to repay the money at the earliest.

The two, along with Masthan Basha, were said to have met over the same issue on Tuesday near the BSNL circle. As tempers ran high, the two came to blows with each other. An infuriated Bharath Kumar Yadav rushed to his house only to return with a pistol in hand and shot indiscriminately at the two in full public glare. The accused is believed to have rained bullets on Dileep from a very close range. The two injured were first rushed to the Pulivendula Government Hospital. With Dileep’s condition turning critical, the authorities decided to shift him to the RIMS in Kadapa for better treatment. However, he succumbed to the injuries near Vempalli while being shifted to Kadapa in an ambulance.

Masthan Basha, speaking to the media at the Pulivendula hospital, feigned ignorance of the financial disputes between Bharath Kumar Yadav and Dileep. He said that he had no idea about their feuds and that he merely went there after being asked to meet them.

Following the incident, Bharath Kumar Yadav reportedly turned himself in to the local police, who are yet to confirm his surrender.

Bharath Kumar is a relative of Sunil Kumar Yadav, one of the accused in YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case, and has a previous criminal record. According to reports, there were several cases registered against him for threatening people at gunpoint.

Incidentally, he was also among the people from Pulivendula who were questioned by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with YS Vivekananda Reddy murder case.

Some reports even claim that he had also worked as a scribe in the past.