Security increased For Minister Srinivas Goud

In the wake of reports of a murder threat to Excise Minister Srinivas Goud, the state government has increased the security to him to 20 police personnel comprising six intelligence officers, ten officers from the city security wing and four Grey Hounds personnel.

Two more vehicles have also been added to the convoy of the minister.

Goud is only the second minister to have security from Grey Hounds with M44 weapons, with Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao being the only other minister with Grey Hounds in his detail.

For the unversed, the police had uncovered and frustrated a murder attempt allegedly planned by Mahbubnagar Market Committee chairman Amarendar Raju; his brothers Raghavendra Raju, Madhusudan Raju and Nagaraju; and a Munnur Ravi. Police said that the investigation had revealed that the suspects had hired one Farooq to kill the minister and paid him Rs 15 crore as supari.

Before the 2018 Assembly elections, a murder attempt was made on a local councillor in Mahbubnagar near the residence of Srinivas Goud. Since then, differences cropped up between the camps of Srinivas Goud and Raghavendra Raju, exacerbated when the latter complained to the State Election Commission that the affidavit filed by Srinivas Goud had been tampered with.