ANANTAPUR: Five unidentified persons attacked the house of Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) general secretary S. Seshaiah in Vidyut Nagar here late on Wednesday night. A letter was found outside the house of Prof. Seshaiah on Thursday morning in the name of `Rayalaseema Tigers,' claiming responsibility for the attack.

A car (Maruti Zen), furniture in the corridor, some books and door and window curtains were burnt by the attackers. A fire tender was rushed to the spot after Prof. Seshaiah informed the fire department and the police after the attackers left the place around 11 pm and the flames were put out.

Terror created

Prof. Seshaiah, who is also the Head of Department of Law in Sri Krishnadevaraya University near here, explained that a few persons started shouting in front of his house using filthy language against him around 10.30 pm, when he was in the house along with his wife Shashikala, who is a member of Virasam, his mother and a son.

The attackers first smashed the lights and the windscreens of the car parked in the corridor and tried to break open the door. Prof. Seshaiah and others, who were sitting in the hall, ran into a room and bolted it from inside fearing threat to their life. The attackers left the place after creating terror for about half-an-hour.

Prof. Seshaiah told The Hindu that organisations with the tails of cobras and tigers were nothing but gangs being organized by the police with former naxalites and other criminal elements to attack the civil and human rights activists and whoever raise their voice against the police.

Threatening letter

Meanwhile, in a letter found outside Prof. Seshaiah's house in the morning by the police one Mahesh demanded the APCLC leaders Seshaiah, Vijayakumar, Purushottam, Kullayappa, Harinatha Reddy and Naganna to quit their posts by December 1, or else they would be killed, Mahesh warned.

The tigers sought to know why the APCLC had not condemned the Maoist killings of Nagender Reddy, Mallesh and Venkatesh during the last couple of months, when they (APCLC) would raise a hue and cry for every small harm done to the Maoists or activists of their frontal organisations like APCLC and Virasam. The Anantapur Bar Association condemned the attack and urged the Government to restrain the police.

HRF charge

HYDERABAD: Meanwhile, the Human Rights Forum has accused the police of failing to check attacks by hired gangs on civil liberties activists and leaders.

Forum general secretary K. Balagopal and vice-president S.Jeevan Kumar in a statement issued here urged the people to condemn the "barbaric" attacks, which were continuing for the last ten years. They flayed the attack on Prof Seshaiah and killing of Dalit leader and teacher, D. Muneppa in Mahabubnagar district the previous day.

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