Front Page

Janardhana Reddy escapes bid on life

Photos: PTI

SPREADING TERROR: The mangled remains of the car that bore the brunt of the mine blast near Nellore on Friday.

NELLORE: The former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, and his wife, N. Rajyalakshmi, who is Minister for Women Development and Child Welfare, escaped a landmine attack in the early hours of Friday. The blast at Vidyanagar, near here, is suspected to be triggered by Maoists.

Mr. Reddy, who is the Congress Member of Parliament from Visakhapatnam, was travelling in a bullet-proof car in a convoy of 15 vehicles to Tirupati to receive an honorary doctorate from Sri Venkateswara University.

The landmine went off as the convoy passed a culvert four km away from Vakadu, native village of the 72-year-old leader. While Mr. Reddy’s car, third in the row, crossed the point, the fifth one, a Ford Fiesta, took the full impact of the blast.

The car driver, Mallikarjuna Reddy; B. Nagarjuna Reddy, a politician-turned-contractor and a follower of the Nedurumallis; and Payasam Dasaiah, a Congress leader from the Venkatagiri constituency, died on the spot. Their bodies were shifted to Balareddypalem, near Kota.

The car was ripped into two horizontally. Parts of the front portion were hurled to a distance of 400 metres and the engine 300 metres away. The rear seat and the boot remained on the spot. A crater was formed at the site.

The mine was suspected to have been placed during repairs to the road a few months ago.

N. Janardhana Reddy, the former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, talks over phone after the traumatic incident.

A wire was found buried 250 metres away in the earthen bund of the canal that passed under the culvert.

A flash gun that was probably used to trigger the blast was found in the direction of Gudali village.

This is the second bid on Mr. Reddy’s life. The earlier one was in Dachepalle in Guntur district four years ago.

In Hyderabad, Minister for Information A. Ramnarayan Reddy said a youth was picked up at the site for interrogation.

Claiming to be an engineering student, he visited the Nedurumallis house in Vakadu on Thursday and again on Friday. He had sought help in securing admission for a post doctoral course and enquired whether Mr. Reddy was going to Tirupati. Minutes after the blast, he was seen at the spot.

Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, reviewing the incident with senior police officers, termed it dastardly. He announced plans for a revamp of the police. He deputed Home Minister K. Jana Reddy and Mr. Ramnarayan Reddy to call on Mr. Janardhana Reddy in Nellore.

PTI reports from Nellore:

A visibly shaken Mr. Reddy and his wife said they would not be cowed by Maoist attacks. He said he was the first to ban naxalites in 1992. “Now, they have reared their heads again.”

Mr. Reddy told journalists: “I am not worried about my life. I am sorry that I have lost two of my dear party workers.”

Mrs. Rajyalakshmi said: “we are in shock and it is not the time to comment who has executed the entire episode and who was the target.”

Mr. Reddy, who enjoys the Z category security, has been on the hit list of Maoists for several years now.

This is the second major strike by extremists in the State in the last two years. On August 15, 2005, senior Congress legislator C. Narsireddy and 10 others were killed in Mahbubnagar district.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu