Maoists who killed TDP lawmaker, leader identified

Sarveswara Rao, the 48-year-old MLA of Araku, and Siveri Soma, 52, a former legislator of the constituency, were targeted when they were returning from a government-sponsored ‘village visit’ programme, officials said.

The Maoists who gunned down Telugu Desam Party MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and his party colleague and former legislator S Soma in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district on Sunday have been identified, police said.

The police released the pictures of the Maoists who gunned down Telugu Desam Party MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and his party colleague and former legislator S Soma in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district on Sunday. (HT Combo Photo)

Andhra Pradesh director general of police RP Thakur on Monday released pictures of Maoists involved in the killing, identifying them as Aruna alias Venkata Ravi Chaitanya from Pendurthi mandal of Visakhapatnam, Koteswari alias Swarupa alias Sindri, and Chandri alias Rinki from Bhimavaram in West Godavari district and Julumuri Srinu Babu alias Sufil of Addatheegala in East Godavari district.

All belonged to the Nandapur committee of the Maoists, police said.

The Maoists were identified from feedback received from the personal assistants of the victims who had witnessed the killings, the first major strike by the Maoists in the state after it was bifurcated in 2014.

Sarveswara Rao, the 48-year-old MLA of Araku, and Siveri Soma, 52, a former legislator of the constituency, were targeted when they were returning from a government-sponsored ‘village visit’ programme, officials said.