‘YSRCP leader’s murder due to family feud’: Naidu defends jailed ex-Min Kollu Ravindra

Police have stated that while there was political rivalry between the prime accused and victim, Kollu Ravindra had guided and assured the accused.
‘YSRCP leader’s murder due to family feud’: Naidu defends jailed ex-Min Kollu Ravindra
‘YSRCP leader’s murder due to family feud’: Naidu defends jailed ex-Min Kollu Ravindra
Written by:

Condemning the arrest of former TDP Minister Kollu Ravindra yet again, TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu said that Ravindra has been framed in a murder that was a result of a feud between two families. Ravindra was detained on Friday night and sent to judicial custody in the murder case of Moka Bhaskar Rao, a close associate of YSRCP leader and state Minister Perni Vekataramaiah (Nani).  

Chandrababu Naidu has claimed that Moka Bhaskar Rao was murdered due to a longstanding feud for power between the Moka and Chinta families. “Kollu Ravindra is innocent. The murder had occurred as a result of a feud between two families. It is disgraceful that a former minister has been framed for this,” Naidu said in a statement. He claimed that Moka Bhaskar Rao was involved in the murder of a man named Chinta Surendra, who died back in 2013. He alleged that records of his involvement in the murder case, and criminal history, has been erased due to his political connections.   

The murder of Bhaskar Rao took place on June 29. Naidu said that Sakshi had reported on June 30 that the culprits were in police custody, and questioned how they could’ve been communicating with Ravindra after the murder, as alleged by the police.  

However, Sakshi had reported that while two suspects were in police custody, the prime accused ‘Chinta Chinni’ was still absconding. 

Speaking to media on Saturday after Kollu Ravindra’s arrest, Krishna district SP (Superintendent of Police) Ravindranath Babu said that Ravindra had played a role in the murder by guiding the main accused through the process, and by assuring them before and after the murder occurred. 

The SP said that the prime accused, Nancharaiah alias Chinna, was a local TDP leader and a follower of Kollu Ravindra. He said that Chinna and Moka Bhaskar Rao had a prolonged political rivalry and that a failed murder attempt on Bhaskar Rao had been carried out in 2013. The SP said that the two men were from the same community and had been competing for political power. 

“Over the last six months, the differences had escalated. They started planning to kill him (Bhaskar Rao) to eliminate competition, and Ravindra had been guiding them,”  the SP said. 

He said that as per police investigation, the accused Nancharaiah had met Ravindra five days before the murder, seeking his approval. 

The murder took place at the Machilipatnam fish market, where Bhaskar Rao had been visiting daily to supervise repair works. The SP said that Ravindra had guided Nancharaiah, by advising him where to stab Bhaskar Rao so that he would not be able to survive, in which case there would be strong retaliation. 

The SP said that Ravindra had left Krishan district after the incident, and was detained on Friday night in East Godavari district after arranging search parties. 

Naidu, meanwhile, has called the arrest a case of political vendetta and accused the YSRCP of targeting TDP leaders from Backward Classes. Pointing out that several prominent TDP leaders like Atchannaidu, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and Ayyanna Patrudu have been recently booked or arrested in different cases, he claimed that anyone from TDP standing up to the YSRCP was being targeted. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com