YSRC group fight suspected for murder of party\'s Hindupur leader

ANANTAPUR: Hindupur remained tense following the murder of YSRC’s former convener in Hindupur assembly segment Chowluru Ramakrishna Reddy. The deceased’s family accused YSRC MLC Md Iqbal of involvement in the heinous act.

Iqbal was a former IGP of Rayalaseema and currently Hindupur segment incharge in Satya Sai district. Reddy, who was having differences with MLC Iqbal, was hacked in front of his house in Chowlur village in Hindupur rural mandal on Friday night. Unidentified men attacked him when he got down from his car and was walking into his house. He was hacked with hunting sickles.

The deceased was an engineering graduate and MBA from a Canadian university. He had a strong mass base in Hindupur region. He was a close aide of AP Agros chairman Naveen Nischal and set against  party incharge Iqbal.
There had been several instances of clashes between the two groups, including at Hindupur Press Club, and at Chowlur village on August 15 while Iqbal hoisted a flag at another stage in the evening.

Reddy reached his home from Hindupur and was about to enter the house when he was attacked. He collapsed on the spot and did not recover. Police teams rushed in and shifted the body to Hindupur government hospital on Friday night.

While Hindupur was generally free from faction rivalry, the murder turned the situation tense. Reddy’s mother C Narayanamma alleged that MLC Iqbal and his group were behind the killing of her son. She also blamed Hindupur rural inspector BT Naidu and a rural sub-inspector for the murder.

Satya Sai district SP Rahul Singh ordered the removal of Hindupur circle inspector and sub-inspector from their posts and put them on the ‘reserved vacancy’ list. Cases have been registered against MLC Iqbal’s PA Gopi Krishna and his close aides C Ravi, Murali, KB Nagudu and B Murali. Police reinforcements have been sent to Chowlur and Hindupur towns to ensure peace.
Meanwhile, the Ramakrishna Reddy group mounted pressure on the YSRC high command to initiate action against Iqbal, saying the party in charge was encouraging rivalry among the local party leaders.

Iqbal in a statement condemned the murder of Reddy and expressed his condolences to the family members. “Facts will come out through an investigation,” he said.