The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Police clueless on Paritala's killing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 27, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Police clueless on Paritala's killing

By B. Chandrashekhar

ANANTAPUR, JAN. 26. Even three days after the most meticulously planned murder of the TDP leader, Paritala Ravindra, the police is yet to achieve any breakthrough in the case. Two investigation teams of CB-CID and four teams of the district police are on the job.

Sources in the Police Department maintained that no headway has been made in the investigation so far except seizing the two-wheelers on which the assailants had fled after executing their task on Monday. The police have also made repeated observation at the scene of offence, the TDP office here.

Different theories

Attempts for reconstruction of the offence at the scene has become difficult for the investigating teams as the hectic activity there have tampered several clues. According to one theory, negligence of Ravindra, in spite of getting threatening calls for the last few days, had made him pay with his life.

Ravindra's private security men were also learnt to be not carrying their short weapons on the fateful day. They could not counter the attack due to lack of weapons. Mallakalva Eeswaraiah, Ravindra's aide, who was also killed in the attack, was said to have caught one assailant but another assailant had fired on the former to free the first assailant.

Both the police and the TDP men who were around Ravindra when the attack took place believe that the assailants were highly trained. They had executed the task of firing from three sides. They state that only one assailant had fired on Ravindra with a sophisticated short weapon, keeping a spare one in another hand.

A precision act

It is suspected that the main shooter might have fired on the legs of Ravindra first and after the target had fallen to the ground he had shot on the middle portion of the body -- stomach and chest and later in the eyes so that the target does not survive even if he was wearing a bullet-proof jacket.

In fact, Ravindra was not wearing the safety jacket on the fateful afternoon. Sources close to Ravindra stated that in spite of getting threatening calls he was suspecting an attack only during his travel. That was the reason why he had instructed all his aides not to allow other vehicles to over take their convoy as there was a possibility of attacking after creating an obstruction.

There is also a suspicion that the killer gang might have entered the district two-three months back and had studied the situation thoroughly before going for the kill. There are different versions even on the bombs thrown at the scene. One suspicion is that the bombs might have been hurled by the assailants positioned outside the TDP premises to disperse the crowd to clear the way for shooters to escape. Another opinion is that Ravindra's men might have thrown them to save him from firing.

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