Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday condemned the arrest of party leaders, who included former Ministers and MLAs, who were on their way to attend the last rites of the slain activist Kancherla Jalaiah in Palnadu district.
In a statement, Mr. Naidu held the ruling party MLA from Macherla, P. Ramakrishna Reddy, responsible for the murder of Jalaiah, who hailed from the Backward Castes, and alleged that five persons from the community had been done to death so far in Macherla alone.
Mr. Naidu denounced the police and other officials for “keeping the family members of Jalaiah in the dark about the whereabouts of his body,” and questioned the authorities for preventing the family from cremating the body in their native village.
Dig at police
Launching a scathing attack on the police for “not acting against the series of political murders being committed at the behest of the ruling party leaders,” Mr. Naidu said, they were now using their power to prevent the party leaders from visiting the victim’s family and be by its side in this hour of crisis.
Mr. Naidu demanded that the case be investigated by a special court and the culprits awarded capital punishment.
