CI, SI suspended in YSRCP leader's murder case

TIRUPATI: Kurnool range DIG Koya Praveen on Tuesday suspended Nandyal rural circle inspector Sivakumar Reddy and Mahanandi SI Nagendra Prasad on grounds of gross negligence in preventing the attack and murder of local YSRCP leader Pasupuleti Subba Rayudu at Sitaramapuram village in Mahanandi mandal August 4.
The suspension of both the officers comes at a time when the ruling TDP and YSRCP are engaged in a war of words over the murder. It may be recalled that a group of nearly 40 men stormed into Subba Rayudu's house at Sitaramapuram on Sunday and attacked him with stones, sticks and knives, killing him on the spot.
Subba Rayudu's wife Balasubbamma was also injured in the attack. She alleged that local TDP leader Budda Srinivasa Reddy and his followers were involved in her husband's murder.
While the YSRCP accused TDP of orchestrating Subba Rayudu's murder in the same way it has been instigating political murders across the state, the ruling party and local police maintained that financial and land disputes between Subba Rayudu and Srinivasa Reddy led to the murder.
According to Balasubbamma, about three years ago, Srinivasa Reddy took 15 cents of land belonging to her husband but never settled the issue by either giving them alternative land or by paying them the money.
"When Srinivasa Reddy and his men attacked Subba Rayudu, Mahanandi SI Nagendra Prasad reached the spot with just two police constables and could literally do nothing to prevent the attack," the victim's wife alleged.
Former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is scheduled to visit Sitaramapuram village and express solidarity with the slain YSRCP leader's family on August 9.