Maoist rebels were accused yesterday of assassinating a Telugu Desam Party legislator and another former lawmaker in a brazen daytime ambush on their vehicle, police said.
Kidari Sarveswara Rao, a member of the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh, was shot dead near the coastal city of Visakhapatnam in what police say was a targeted hit on the sitting legislator.
Former lawmaker S Soma, who was accompanying Rao, was also gunned down in the attack blamed on Maoist fighters active in a forested belt of central and eastern India.
E Naidu, a local police official, said that Rao was on a Maoist “hit list” of powerful figures accused of having ties to bauxite miners in the mineral-rich state.
“There were some 30 Maoists in hiding. They attacked suddenly, giving no time for them (Rao and Soma) to react,” he said.
A large group blocked the car and overpowered the bodyguards escorting the two officials, before turning their weapons on them, police said.
Director General of Police Srikanth said the crime occurred between noon and 1pm about 15km from the Odisha border.
He said that the Maoists snatched weapons from the two leaders’ security guards before sending them away.
Senior police officials rushed to the scene of the crime as the bodies were taken to the King George Hospital at Visakhapatnam for autopsy.
It was the first such attack in many years in Andhra Pradesh, once a hotbed for insurgents fighting for what they say are the land rights of marginalised tribal communities.
Following the killings, police were put on high alert.
Public representatives were advised to take precautions while visiting their constituencies.
Rao was elected from Araku on a YSR Congress Party ticket in the 2014 elections by defeating Soma.
In 2016, Rao switched loyalties to the TDP.
In July this year, tribals had protested against the legislator for allegedly obtaining mining lease in the name of his brother-in-law.
They had alleged that quarrying of black stones was damaging the homes of tribals in t Guda village.
Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Araku as relatives and supporters of the two slain politicians attacked two police stations.
Accusing the police of “failing” to protect public representatives, the protesters ransacked Araku and Dumbriguda police stations and torched the furniture and other articles.
When the police tried to disperse the protesters, they vent their ire on policemen, injuring one constable.
Other policemen ran away to escape the mob fury.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock over the killings.
Naidu, who is visiting the United States, sent a message condemning the killings, and conveyed his condolences to the bereaved families.
The TDP said such attacks and killings are a “scar on humanity”.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister N Chinna Rajappa said a probe will be conducted to find out how the Maoists managed to attack the two leaders.
He said Maoist activities in Andhra Pradesh were controlled in the last four years, though they were reported to be active in neighbouring Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Telangana.
Outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist was believed to have considerably weakened in its former stronghold on the Andhra-Odisha border in recent years following intensive police operations by both states.