ANANTAPUR: The charred remains of a mandal-level Congress leader, P. Kulasekhar Reddy (38), was found in his car on Friday night near Tadipatri. He was returning to Chukkaluru, his native, from Tadipatri.

The police suspect that political rivals of Kulasekhar Reddy, a contractor and aide of Minister for Panchayat Raj J.C. Diwakar Reddy, could have killed him before burning his body in the car.

Incidentally, the car was burnt in a `sapota' orchard of one C. Vishwanatha Reddy of CPI, whose mother C. Parvathamma had unsuccessfully contested against Kulasekhar Reddy's mother P. Varadamma in the recently concluded sarpanch elections.

A `fire mishap'

The police said that it was Mr. Vishwanatha Reddy who got information about "a fire mishap" in his orchard first. He immediately informed the fire station in Tadipatri over phone. A fire extinguisher was rushed to the spot around 11.30 p.m. But, by that time the person in the car and the vehicle were burnt completely.

Valuables damaged

Suspecting that Mr. Vishwanatha Reddy's aides were behind the killing, Congress activists of Chukkaluru ransacked his house and damaged some valuables, apart from a tractor and a two-wheeler.

Later, they set on fire the houses of Mr. Vishwanatha Reddyand four of his followers too. Three houses were reduced to ashes and two were partially damaged.

A public telephone booth and four tractors were also set on fire by the violent mobs.

Police action

The police did not enter the village till Saturday afternoon when SP Sanjay Kumar Jain visited the village to take stock of the situation.

They fired three rounds into the air to bring the violent mob under control. Forces deployed in the village were soon reinforced.

Meant to implicate?

That the murder was committed in the orchards of the CPI leader also gave rise to doubts that it was an attempt to implicate Mr. Vishwanatha Reddy, as the recent sarpanch elections had seen the two groups at loggerheads.

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