Slugfest erupted a day after a 50-year-old man, who filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) president K Chandrasekhar Rao, his nephew T Harish Rao and others in the Kaleshwaram project irregularities case, was killed in Bhupalpally town.
The deceased, Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, was returning to Bhupalpally after attending a family function at Jangedu Shivaru Pakkirugadda on a two-wheeler at around 7.30 pm, when he was waylaid by five unidentified individuals at the Telangana coal miners’ union office, Bhupalpally deputy superintendent of police Sampath Rao said.
“They attacked him with knives and axes, causing grievous injuries. Locals rushed him to a government hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead,” he said, adding that an investigation is being conducted from all angles and no one had been taken into custody yet.
According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the Bhupalpalli police on Thursday based on the complaint of Rajalingamurthy’s wife Nagavelli Sarala, four people Renukuntla Sanjeev, Pingali Shemanth, M Kumar and Kothuri Kumar were named as the suspects in the murder, as they had property disputes with him.
However, Nagavelli, a former municipal councillor, later staged a demonstration before the police station, alleging that former BRS MLA Gandra Venkataramana Reddy was behind the murder of Rajalingamurthy who had filed a case against the BRS leaders in October 2023 holding them responsible for sinking of Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram project.
Bhupalpalli town inspector Dommeti Naresh Kumar said a case was booked against the suspects under Section 191(2) (group of people indulging in violence), 191(3) (unlawful assembly) 61(2) (criminal conspiracy), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), 103(2) r/w 190 (mob lynching) of the BNS.
“We will not spare anyone involved in this murder. A case has been registered based on the complaint filed by the deceased’s wife. There were previous land disputes between Rajalingamurthy and his attackers. The investigation is also considering other possible motives. Special teams have been formed to conduct a thorough inquiry,” the DSP revealed.
The Congress accused the BRS leaders of masterminding the murder of Rajalingamurthy. State roads and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy alleged that the deceased was targeted by the BRS leaders, as he had filed a case against the previous ruling BRS government, blaming it for the sinking of the Medigadda barrage.
“If someone has any objection to him fighting the case on Kaleshwaram issue, they should fight legally — why resort to murder. If someone exposes the illegal activities of KCR and his family, will they be killed?” the minister asked.
BRS leader Gandra Venkataramana Reddy, however, denied the allegations and said that he was being falsely blamed for the murder. “There is a false propaganda campaign against us regarding Rajalingamurthy’s murder. We strongly condemn it,” he said.
Stating that the comments of minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy were distressing, the former MLA said the BRS had never encouraged political killings. “We will face the Medigadda case legally. Neither I nor BRS have any connection to this murder. We demand that a CID or CBI inquiry be conducted, and the culprits should be punished,” he added.