The Nalgonda police have booked a criminal case against Congress MP Komatireddy Venkat Reddy for allegedly threatening to kill another Congress leader Cheruku Sudhakar.
The police have booked the case against the MP under Section 506 of the IPC, on the basis of a complaint lodged by the son of Cheruku Sudhakar, Dr Cheruku Suhaas.
Venkat Reddy had allegedly called up Suhaas on March 5 and told him that his (Reddy's) supporters and loyalists would kill Sudhakar for continuously targeting him.
The recording of the conversation between Suhaas and Reddy went viral on the social media. During the conversation, Reddy claimed that Sudhakar had used foul language against him 100 times, and said that his supporters were roaming around in 100 cars to kill him (Sudhakar).
Reddy said that his followers had waited patiently for a month, but that they had now lost their patience and were roaming around to kill Sudhakar and Suhaas as well.
He said that his supporters would demolish Suhaas' hospital as well.
Reddy however gave his explanation for his threats, claiming that the recording was cropped and completely edited. He said that he was aware that his call was being recorded by Suhaas, and so would anyway not say such things. He also asserted that he had never abused his rivals in his 33-year-long political career, and that it was his nature to help even his enemies.
Reddy added that Sudhakar had been criticizing him ever since he had joined the Congress, and that he (Reddy) had asked Sudhakar only why he was criticizing him. He also said that he had asked Suhaas only to tell his father to not criticize him.