Two brothers, both members of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), were on Thursday killed in a long-running feud with another family from their village, Pesaravai, in Gadivemula block, around 300km from Vijayawada. It wasn’t immediately known whether there was an additional political angle to the killing. The two were hacked to death after being knocked down by a vehicle.
The deceased, former sarpanch Vaddu Nageshwar Reddy (45) and his brother Vaddu Pratap Reddy (43), former president of the local primary agriculture cooperative society, are followers and close aides of former MLA and TDP leader Gouru Charita Reddy.
“Three of their relatives were also injured in the attack. They were immediately shifted to the Nandyal hospital, where they were declared out of danger,” Gadivemula sub-inspector of police Sridhar said.
According to the preliminary information gathered by the police, Nageshwar Reddy and Pratap Reddy, along with three other relatives, were on their way to the local crematorium to collect the ashes of their cousin, who died three days ago, when a group of five to six people in an SUV waylaid them.
The assailants first knocked the brothers down and then attacked them with sharp weapons, including sickles. “Both the brothers died on the spot, while the three relatives sustained injuries,” Sridhar added.
{{/usCountry}}The assailants first knocked the brothers down and then attacked them with sharp weapons, including sickles. “Both the brothers died on the spot, while the three relatives sustained injuries,” Sridhar added.
{{/usCountry}}He attributed the killings to a feud dating back decades, although it has not resulted in any deaths in the past 25 years.
“We have booked a case of murder and attempt to murder. After committing the offence, the assailants fled the village. We have launched a manhunt for them,” Sridhar said.
Former MLA Charitha Reddy visited the village and called on the bereaved families of the victims. She demanded that stringent punishment be given to the accused.
TDP president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the killings and blamed the ruling YSR Congress party.
“The law-and-order situation in the state has completely deteriorated. There is no protection to the lives of the TDP leaders and activists (who are) killed in broad daylight. So far, at least 30 TDP leaders have been killed in the last two years. I wonder what the police are doing in the state,” he lamented, and added that the TDP will stand by the bereaved families.