Tension in Rapthadu as YSRCP leader is killed

Tense situation prevailed in Rapthadu mandal where senior YSRCP leader and mandal party unit chief Bhumireddy Prasad Reddy was hacked to death by six armed assailants, alleged to be the supporters of the ruling TDP.

Irate YSRCP activists staged protests on hearing about the gruesome killing of their leader. The party workers gathered in huge numbers to register their protests. The police have been deployed to bring the situation under control.

YSRCP former MLA Gurunadh Reddy termed this a political murder and said that the ruling TDP was eliminating its political rivals in a pre-meditated manner. He said the tehsildar offices in the Rayalaseema region have become TDP hideouts. YSRCP spokesperson Vasireddy Padma slammed the TDP for targeted killing of YSRCP activists. MLA Visweshwar Reddy said late Reddy was a hugely popular leader of the party and his killing is proof enough of the targeted killing. The party workers said they were not afraid of the murder politics of the TDP and would continue to fight back.

Ironically, the police station is a few paces away, but the police did not react to the murder, alleged some YSRCP workers.

Senior YSRCP leader and a close acolyte of former MLA Gurunath Reddy, Bhumireddy Prasad Reddy, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants on Wednesday. He was 50 and is survived by wife and son. The assailants barged into the Rapthdu tehsildar's room where Prasad Reddy was holding discussions with the officials and hacked him to death. His death was instantaneous. 

Ever since the TDP government came to power, several YSRCP activists have been killed in the Rayalaseema region.In Anantapur alone, 10 persons were killed.