One killed in bomb attack on ashram

By Our Staff Reporter

ANANTAPUR, JAN. 21. Close on the heels of a bomb explosion in a private lodge at Puttaparthi, suspected naxalites belonging to the CPI(ML) ROC Ranga Reddy group attacked the ashram of Kaleshwara Swamy, a godman, at Penukonda in the district late last night. One devotee was killed and a watchman injured seriously in the bomb attack.

According to the police, a few suspected naxalites belonging to the splinter group of the CPI(ML) attacked the ashram around 10.45 pm, when the inmates were about to go to sleep. The assailants threw several bombs on the ashram premises but only a couple of them went off. The inmates, most of whom were woken up rudely by the blasts, ran helter-skelter.

Two persons - a devotee from Guntakal, Mr. Prasad (20), and a watchman of the ashram, Mr. Bahadur (30) - were seriously injured in the attack. They were immediately rushed to a Bangalore hospital, where the devotee succumbed to the multiple injuries. The watchman was said to be recovering.

It is said that the Ranga Reddy group of ROC had been demanding a ransom of about Rs. 2.5 lakhs from Kaleshwara Swamy for the last several months. They resorted to the attack as their demand had not been conceded. Kaleshwara Swamy was out of station when the attack took place.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police (Penukonda), Mr. B.Vidyasagar Rao, visited the ashram immediately after the attack. The Superintendent of Police, Mrs. Anjana Sinha, also visited the ashram on Sunday.

Reacting to the attack, Kaleshwara Swamy told newspersons at Penukonda that he was ready to leave the place as blackmailing for money by pseudo-naxal groups had intensified in the recent past.

He said he had been working for the development of the area with the help of his devotees but some naxalite groups like ROC had been resorting to extortion even from institutions like his ashram.

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Section  : Southern States
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