Kalluri Gangadhara Reddy, the witness in the former minister Y S Vivekananda Reddy murder case, died suspiciously on Thursday. He was 49 and died in his house at Yakidi village of Ananthapur district. The family members alerted the police who rushed to the spot and took the body for post-mortem.

Gangadhara Reddy hails from Pulivendula in Kapada district and had moved to Yadiki in Ananthapur district a decade ago. He is accused in several crimes and has been a supporter of Sivasankar Reddy, who is also accused in the Vivekananda Reddy murder.

Gangadhara Reddy turned as approver before the CBI which was probing into the murder of Vivekananda Reddy. He told the CBI that Sivasankar Reddy had offered him Rs 10 crore to confess as having killed Vivekananda Reddy.

However, he refused to confess the same before the magistrate and later accused the CBI of torturing him and forcing him to give wrong statements. He also sought police protection for him from the CBI and also the suspects in the murder of Vivekananda Reddy.

The Ananthapur district police and the CBI are looking into the suspicious death of Gangadhara Reddy.