Nalgonda: Police, on Thursday, took into custody four people in the sensational murder of Congress leader Bodupalli Srinivas.

They were identified as Kathala Chakri, Durgaiah, Mathangi Mohan and Gopi. Three other accused are said to be on the run. They are Rambabu, Mallesh and Sharath. Meanwhile, district SP Srinivas Rao and joint collector Narayana Reddy conveyed their condolences to the slain leader's wife and Nalgonda Municipal chairperson Lakshmi. She told the police officials that Srinivas received a phone call the previous night and rushed out of the house and within a few hours she was informed of his ghastly murder. "Despite repeated pleas, he was not provided security by the government nor his gun licence application was approved," she said.

The Ghastly Murder

Bodupalli Srinivas, husband of Municipal Chairperson Lakshmi was brutally murdered by unknown persons at around 11 pm on Wednesday night, near his house in Savarkar Nagar in Bodupalli of Nalgonda district. It is said that the assailants hit Srinivas on his head with a boulder and murdered him. The assault is said to be a fallout of an altercation between the unknown attackers and Srinivas, who has been a very close associate of Congress leader Komatireddi Venkat Reddy.

After having murdered Srinivas, the assailants threw his body in a sewage canal and surrendered themselves at the police station. The police immediately swung into action to prevent any untoward incident as a fallout of the murder. District SP Srinivas Rao rushed to the spot and shifted the body to government hospital for post-mortem.

Meanwhile, Komatireddi Venkat Reddy rushed to Nalgonda from Hyderabad and consoled the family members of the slain leader. The Congress leader, who was deeply disturbed by the brutal murder, condemned the dastardly attack and described it as an act of cowardice.

Komatireddi alleged that the TRS government has not reacted to his complaint that he and his followers in Nalgonda district had received death threats. He had informed the state government that some members from the Nayeem gang had threatened his followers a few times, but the state failed to provide protection.

Visibly disturbed, Komatireddi sat on a dharna in Nalgonda town Clock Tower area on Thursday morning in protest against the state government’s apathy. He also alleged that the government was trying to protect the culprits and demanded that the murderers be arrested immediately.