BHADRACHALAM: Nalluri Srinivasa Rao, a TRS leader and former Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituency (MPTC) member, was found murdered somewhere between Errampadu and Pottepadu villages in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh on Friday.
Claiming responsibility for the murder, the Maoists released a statement stating that they have killed him because he was acting as a police informer. The Maoists also alleged in the letter that Srinivasa Rao had encroached land from the tribals. The slain leader’s two-wheeler was also found near the body.
Srinivasa Rao was kidnapped by Maoists on July 8 from his house in Bestakottur village in Cherla mandal in Bhadradri Kothagudem district.
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Attempts by the family and villagers to trace Rao in the dense forests of Chhattisgarh over the last two days had proved futile. Their appeal to Maoists to set him free also fell on deaf ears. The murder of Srinivasa Rao created a sensation in the agency area. Condemning the killing, Kothagudem district SP Sunil Dutt said: “It is a brutal act by the Maoists.
Srinivasa Rao was never a police informer. He was a farmer and had nothing to do with the police,” he said. The SP said that Srinivasa Rao has earned a good name in the nearby villages by helping the farmers. He alleged that Maoists were harassing businessmen, farmers and contractors for money and if anybody does not do their bidding, they would target them.
“Maoists are unleashing a reign of terror among the people in the agency area for their existence,” the SP said.