Arrests Made In Komatireddy Follower Murder Case

The Nalgonda police today arrested four suspects in the murder of Congress leader Boddupalli Srinivas.

The accused were identified as Kathala Chakri, Durgaiah, Mathangi Mohan and Gopi.

Three other suspects, Rambabu, Mallesh and Sharath, are absconding.

The victim, the husband of local Municipal Chairperson Lakshmi, was murdered by unidentified drunk persons on Wednesday night, near their house in Savarkar Nagar, Boddupalli, Nalgonda district. He was reportedly beaten to death using boulders. The assault is said to be the fallout of an altercation between the attackers and Srinivas, who was close to Congress leader Komatireddy Venkat Reddy.

After the murder, the assailants threw the victim's body in a sewage canal.

The slain leader's wife told the police that her husband had received a phone call the previous night following which he had rushed out of the house, and that within a few hours of that she was informed of the ghastly murder. She alleged that despite repeated appeals, her husband was neither provided with security by the state government nor was his gun licence application approved.

Upon receipt of the information, Congress MLA Komatireddy Venkat Reddy rushed to Nalgonda from Hyderabad and consoled the family members of Srinivas. Reddy is said to be a close friend of Srinivas, and seemed deeply disturbed by the murder. He condemned the attack and described it as an act of cowardice.

He also alleged that the state government had failed to react to his complaint about his followers and he receiving death threats, and that some members from the Nayeem gang had threatened his followers.

He sat on a dharna in Nalgonda town's Clock Tower area in protest against the state government's "apathy". He also alleged that the government was trying to protect the culprits, and demanded that the murderers be arrested immediately.