M A I N   N E W S

Naxals kill MLA, 9 others in Andhra
Ramesh Kandula
Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, August 15
After a period of relative lull, the Naxalites today struck again in Telangana on Independence Day killing 10 persons, including a ruling party MLA.

Chittem Narsireddy (75), a senior Congress legislator from Maktal in Mahbubnagar district, was waylaid at Narayanapet, 120 km from here, while he was returning from an Independence Day function at a nearby school and was shot dead at around 1.15 pm.

The Maoists hurled bombs and fired indiscriminately at the MLA, killing his son Venkateswara Reddy, Municipal Commissioner Rammohan, Revenue Divisional Officer P A Saibanna, the MLA’s gunman Rajareddy, his driver Sreenu and four of his followers, accompanying him. Ten others were injured in the firing.

Hyderabad Range IG R P Meena said that the police suspected an action team of the Nallamala armed squad, consisting of four militants carrying automatic weapons, participated in the attack.

The mild-mannered Narsireddy, a panel Speaker in the Assembly, was elected thrice from the Maktal constituency. He represented the Janata Party in 1985 and the Janata Dal in 1989 in the Assembly. His daughter D K Aruna is also an MLA from the Gadwal constituency, while his son-in-law D K Bharatasimha Reddy is also a prominent politician in the district.

Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, who rushed to Narayanapet along with the Home Minister and the DGP, said that the Naxalites were forcing the government to toughen its stand through such dastardly acts.

Spokesperson for the Maoists and Balladeer Gadar, however, reacted that the Congress government paved way for such retaliatory attacks by frustrating peace talks and by eliminating Naxalites.

Following the incident, the police has beefed security cover for MPs and MLAs from the region.