TDP leader shot dead by naxals

By Our Staff Reporter

GUNTUR, OCT. 5. A Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader, Mr. Siddam Venkateswarlu (40), was shot dead by naxalites belonging to the People's War Group (PWG) in Machayapalem village of Bellamkonda mandal on Friday. His wife, S. Samrajyam, is the president of Bellamkonda mandal parishad.

Giving details, the Superintendent of Police, Mr. J. Purnachandra Rao, said Venkateswarlu, along with his wife, went to the bus stop in the village for going to Guntur to attend the district general body meeting of the TDP. Instead of waiting for the bus, Venkateswarlu went into a nearby thatched hotel for a cup of tea. As soon as he entered the premises of the hotel, four persons held him by his collar and dragged him out on to the road. Soon, they shot at him, resulting in his instantaneous death.

A special police party was sent to the village, of course, with necessary precautions. The naxalites, after killing him, warned everybody around not to move. They also instructed the drivers of jeeps, which were meant for hire and parked near the bus stop, not to move for at least one hour. Unconfirmed reports suggested that the naxalites fired about a dozen rounds into his body. However, the SP said that around four used cartridges were reportedly found near the body. Interestingly, the route between Bellamkonda and Machayapalem was searched for landmines only a couple of days ago by the police.

Mr. Purnachandra Rao said that Venkateswarlu was not a police informer. Naxalites, who were on the offensive for quite some time in the district, were indulging in mindless violence by killing innocent people, he said. The SP recalled that the PWG tendered an apology to the families of Kola Venkateswara Reddy, who was killed in Narasaraopet last week, and Chinta Venkata Reddy, who was killed due to blowing up of a landmine near Yemmajigudem in Bellamkonda mandal recently. The PWG had been trying to establish its presence in the district for quite some time. They asked sarpanches and mandal parishad members to resign last year.

Our Staff Reporter in Anantapur writes:

Two naxalite groups killed two persons separately in Anantapur district last night and this morning. Both were the followers of the ruling Telugu Desam Party.

In the first incident, according to reports, three naxalites belonging to the Ramagiri Rythanga Guerrilla dalam of People's War Ganapati group went to Tagarakunta village of Kanaganapalli mandal this morning on a two-wheeler and shot dead one Madduleti (28) when he was having tea at a tea-vendor.The naxalites shot Madduleti in his head by holding him together. They fled the village immediately after finishing their task.

In the other incident last night at Uravakonda, eight naxalites belonging to the CPI(ML) Vimukti Patham, a splinter group of People's War, hacked to death one Srinivasulu (29).

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