A local leader of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) was hacked to death by unidentified assailants at Teldarupalli village in Khammam rural mandal around noon on Monday.
The deceased was identified as Tammineni Krishnaiah, considered a staunch follower of the TRS leader and former Minister Tummala Nageswara Rao, a native of Teldarupalli, sources said.
Krishnaiah was riding pillion on a motorcycle when around five unidentified persons travelling in an autorickshaw hit the bike from behind on the outskirts of Teldarupalli.
Both the bike rider and Krishnaiah fell in the middle of the road and in a split second the assailants attacked Krishnaiah with sharp-edged weapons indiscriminately, killing him on the spot. The bike rider managed to escape from the site.
The gruesome killing in broad daylight sparked tension in Teldarupalli, known as a politically sensitive village.
As the news of the brutal killing of Krishnaiah spread, a group of irate villagers ransacked the house of a “suspect” in the murder, triggering commotion.
A large posse of police personnel rushed to the village to defuse tension in the village, known for its long-standing inter-party rivalries.
Sources said that Krishnaiah had joined the TRS after quitting the CPI (M) a few years ago. He had been actively associated with TRS activities in the village, a traditional stronghold of the CPI (M), since then.
The local police suspect “political rivalry” to be the motive behind the murder.
