Rajahmundry: A Special SC/ST Court dismissed a petition filed by YSRCP Kakinada MLC Anantha Udaya Bhaskar (Ananta Babu), who sought to have his wife’s name, Anantha Lakshmi Durga, removed from the charge sheet, stating there was no involvement in the 2022 murder case of his former car driver. The court denied his request to drop her from the chargesheet filed by the Special Investigation Team (SIT). Anantha Babu is listed as Accused 1 (A1), and his wife, Lakshmi Durga, is listed as Accused 2 (A2) in the chargesheet.
It may be recollected that the former YSRCP leader Anantha Babu was accused of murdering his former driver Veedhi Subhramanyam, a Dalit man, for not repaying a loan of Rs 20,000 on May 19th, 2022, and tried to pass it off as an accident.
The high-profile murder case of Subrahmanyam has seen intense legal developments, including recent Supreme Court scrutiny regarding a police-accused nexus where he got bail from the case, and a fresh probe involving the MLC’s wife. In February 2026, the Supreme Court issued deadlines for a speedy trial to be completed by November 30, 2026.
Following lapses in the initial investigation, an SIT that was formed took over and intensified the probe. Based on the CCTV footage and other evidence, the SIT questioned Lakshmi Durga for seven hours regarding her alleged involvement in March 2026.
As the deceased driver was a Dalit, a special court for SC/ST cases previously ordered a supplementary chargesheet, which reported evidence of the MLC and his wife’s presence at the scene. In March, the court issued a non-bailable warrant against Lakshmi Durga in the case.