Nalluri Srinivas Rao, 45, the former MPTC member of Kothuru in Charla mandal owing allegiance to the ruling TRS, who was allegedly abducted by a group of Maoists at gunpoint on Monday night, was found murdered in the densely forested Telangana-Chhattisgarh border area on Friday evening.
The Maoist rebels, who held him captive for more than three days in the dense forest area spanning the restive Telangana-Chhattisgarh border, allegedly killed him on the charges of being a “police informer.”
The abduction of the former elected local body representative of the ruling party ended in tragedy triggering panic across the Bhadrachalam Agency, the tribal heartland of Telangana.
The body of Srinivas was found with a grievous head injury apparently indicating that the rebels shot him in the head before dumping the body in the Yerrampadu-Puttapadu forest area.
In a pamphlet left behind at the site bearing the name of the CPI (Maoist) Charla-Sabari area committee secretary Sharada, the rebels alleged that Srinivas was aiding the police and informing them about the movement of Maoist underground squads.
As the news spread in Kothuru, gloom gripped the house of Srinivas with his wife Durga and son Praveen wailed inconsolably with their hopes of the safe return of their breadwinner shattered.
In a statement, Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt termed the abduction and murder of Srinivas as an atrocious act.
The deceased had no links with police and he enjoyed good reputation as a farmer who helped fellow farmers with generosity, the SP said
The rebels resorted to the gruesome murder of a farmer to terrorise local people to show their identity, he charged, saying stern action will be taken against those indulging in violence.