A leader of the Telugu Desam Party was on Tuesday hacked to death in broad daylight near Belum caves in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district. The deceased has been identified as Manjula Subbarao, who hails from Chintalayapalle village in Kurnool district’s Kolimigundla mandal.
The assailants attacked Subbarao on Tuesday afternoon, stabbing him before bludgeoning him to death with boulders. Subbarao was the aide of former MLA BC Janardhan Reddy and had supported the latter in the 2019 General Elections. Subbarao reportedly owned polish and granite firms in Tadipatri of Anantapur district.
According to the police, around 12 assailants were part of Tuesday’s attack and those who hatched the plan had kept an eye on Subbarao’s movements and thus knew that he would be present at Belum caves for some personal work.
The daylight murder has left the residents of the area in shock as the assailants reportedly came in a four-wheeler, dragged the TDP leader out of his vehicle and then stabbed him.
Speaking to TNM, Koyilakuntla Circle Inspector said that a case of murder has been registered based on the complaint by the deceased’s family and evidence has been collected from the crime spot. He also said that the two main accused are followers of the YSRCP.
CI Subba Raidu said, "K Narayana Reddy and Ambati Guruvi Reddy are the prime accused in the case. They are followers of the YSRCP. Both the deceased and prime accused belong to the same village and there was simmering political and personal rivalry between over the past year.”
According to the police, when Subbarao left the YSRCP to join the TDP before the elections, the accused were apparently not able to digest his growth in the party and hatched a plan to kill Subbarao
“The prime accused carried out the attack along with nine others. They used hunting sickles and boulders to kill him,” the police said.
The police added that the accused are absconding and teams have been formed to nab them. The district police authorities have beefed up security in sensitive areas, including the village where deceased and accused hail from.
TDP Chief Chandrababu Naidu is expected to be present at Subbarao’s funeral, reports say.
Earlier in May 2017, Kurnool's Pathikonda constituency had been on the boil after a YSR Congress leader and his aide were brutally hacked to death by members of a rival faction at Ramakrishnapuram in Krishnagiri mandal.
Several areas in Rayalaseema in Andhra Pradesh have faction-ridden rivalries fueled by political interests of main political parties.