Hyderabad, Feb 20 (IANS) Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former MLA Gandra Venkat Ramana Reddy on Thursday denied his involvement in the murder of Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy, the man who had filed a complaint alleging corruption in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) following the sinking of piers of Medigadda barrage.
He said during a news conference that he was no way connected to the murder of Rajalingamurthy.
The BRS leader said the allegations made against him were baseless, and accused the Congress party of attempting to falsely implicate BRS in the case.
Venkat Ramana Reddy was reacting to allegations by the family of the victim and leaders of the ruling party.
The episode has triggered a huge political row with his family members and leaders of the ruling Congress party blaming Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders for the killing.
Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy was brutally murdered in Bhupalpally town on Wednesday night.
His wife Sarla, former councilor Bhupalpally Municipality, alleged that BRS leaders were behind the murder as he had exposed corruption in the Kaleshwaram project.
“Venkat Ramana Reddy said the BRS never indulged in murder politics. “Neither me nor the party has anything to do with the murder. We will face the Medigadda case legally,” he said.
The former MLA demanded that the state government order an inquiry into the murder and punish the guilty.
He said a First Information Report (FIR) was also registered that Rajalingamurthy was killed because of a land dispute. He claimed to have received the information that the accused in the murder case has surrendered before the police.
The BRS leader alleged that some people were forcing Rajalingamurthy’s wife to make allegations against him.
“Some Congress leaders are demanding CB CID inquiry. We have no objection if the government orders a CBI inquiry,” he said.
The former MLA alleged that Rajalingamurthy was involved in many land disputes and a rowdysheet was also opened against him.
Rajalingamurthy, who joined the Congress before the 2023 Assembly elections, was attacked by three to four unidentified persons with sickles and knives when he was going on a motorbike. The assailants chased and hacked him to death on the road.
He had filed a case at the Bhupalpally police station in October 2023, seeking registration of an FIR against then chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), then irrigation minister T. Harish Rao and others after a couple of piers of Medigadda barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram project, had sunk.
As the police had refused to register an FIR, Murthy had approached the local magistrate court, which rejected his plea. He subsequently approached the Principal Sessions Court, Bhupalpally, which issued notices to KCR, Harish Rao and others. However, the Telangana High Court granted a stay.
The sinking of piers of Medigadda triggered a political uproar with the opposition parties blaming the then BRS government for the incident due to alleged corruption and flawed design and poor quality of work on the project, billed as the world’s largest lift irrigation project.
–IANS
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