The brutal murder of Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, a whistleblower who had filed a complaint alleging corruption in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) under the previous KCR government, has triggered a major political controversy in Telangana. His family members and leaders of the ruling Congress party have accused Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders of orchestrating the murder.
Murthy, who joined the Congress before the 2023 Assembly elections, was attacked by three to four unidentified assailants with sickles and knives in Bhupalpally town on Wednesday night. The assailants chased him and hacked him to death on the road.
Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) general secretary Kota Neelima has demanded a judicial probe into the murder, calling it a case of silencing a whistleblower.
“Brutal and mysterious murder of a whistleblower who brought to light irregularities in the Rs 1.2 lakh crore Kaleshwaram project. Rajalinga Murthy complained against the then CM KCR and then Irrigation Minister Harish Rao. He was killed a day before hearing in High Court,” she posted on ‘X’.
“I demand a judicial probe to reveal the circumstances of this murder and to expose the real culprits,” added Neelima, who is also a member of AICC.
BRS leader and former MLA Gandra Venkat Ramana Reddy on Thursday denied any involvement in Murthy’s murder. Speaking at a press conference, he dismissed the allegations as baseless and accused the Congress of falsely implicating BRS.
“The BRS never indulged in murder politics. Neither I nor the party has anything to do with the murder. We will face the Medigadda case legally,” Reddy said.
He further claimed that an FIR had been registered indicating Murthy was killed over a land dispute and stated that the accused in the case had already surrendered before the police. He also alleged that some people were pressuring Murthy’s wife to accuse him of the crime.
“Some Congress leaders are demanding a CB-CID inquiry. We have no objection if the government orders a CBI inquiry,” he added.
Case against KCR
Murthy had filed a case at the Bhupalpally police station in October 2023, seeking registration of an FIR against then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), then Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao, and others after piers of the Medigadda barrage, a part of the Kaleshwaram project, sank.
As the police refused to register an FIR, Murthy approached the local magistrate court, which rejected his plea. He later moved the Principal Sessions Court, Bhupalpally, which issued notices to KCR, Harish Rao, and others. However, the Telangana High Court granted a stay.
The sinking of Medigadda piers had triggered a political uproar, with opposition parties blaming the then BRS government for corruption, flawed design, and poor-quality construction of the project, which was billed as the world’s largest lift irrigation project. Both Congress and BJP made it a key issue in the November 2023 Assembly elections, with top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and current Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy visited the barrage during the campaign.
Following allegations of political involvement in the murder, the Telangana government is considering ordering a Crime Branch/CID inquiry into the case. The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has reportedly sought information from intelligence agencies regarding the incident.
Congress MLA from Bhupalapally, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao, has called for a thorough investigation, demanding that those responsible face the strictest punishment. Meanwhile, the opposition BRS continues to maintain that the murder was unrelated to the Kaleshwaram case and was instead linked to personal disputes involving the deceased.
As the political battle over the case intensifies, the demand for an independent probe is growing louder, with many questioning whether Murthy’s murder was an attempt to suppress allegations of corruption against the previous government.