Andhra Pradesh   

TDP leader hacked to death

Staff Reporter

Former MLA Suryapratap Reddy attacked at Tadipatri rly station

TADIPATRI: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader and former MLA K. Suryapratap Reddy (55) was hacked to death by unidentified assailants in the railway station premises early on Tuesday.

He was attacked soon after he disembarked from Venkatadri Express coming from Hyderabad and died instantaneously. The police, quoting the gunman travelling with him, said the assailants sprayed chilli powder into the TDP leader's eyes and hacked him with axes as he was about to board an autorickshaw around 3.30 a.m. They escaped even before the gunman could react and also threw a few bombs as they fled the scene.

He had close association with Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy and his father the late Y.S. Raja Reddy for about four decades. Suryapratap Reddy became inactive after last Assembly elections, suffering from diabetes and kidney failure. A kidney donated by his sister was transplanted last year.

A shocked TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu rushed here from Hyderabad to console his family members. Before proceeding to Tadipatri, he wanted the Chief Minister either to control the trail of killings or quit the post. Charging Panchayat Raj Minister J. C. Diwakar Reddy with being behind the "political murder", he demanded his dismissal. Expressing anguish over the murder, the Chief Minister rejected the TDP's criticism that it was the result of political vendetta. He asked a TDP delegation that called on him to stop giving the killing a political colour and join hands with the Congress in ending faction violence in Rayalaseema.

Suryapratap Reddy and younger brother K. Pedda Reddy, who was in Tadipatri sub-jail at the time of the murder, have a long-standing rivalry with Mr J.C. Diwakar Reddy and his men. The ex-MLA unsuccessfully fought Mr. Diwakar Reddy from here in the last Assembly elections on the TDP ticket. Assembly constituencies as news about the killing spread. Police reinforcements were rushed to maintain law and order situation. Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kumar Jain rushed here and was monitoring the situation. He said five special police teams were formed to nab the killers.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

TDP leader hacked to death
In protest mode
Divine drama
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu