Anantapur: Tension gripped Papireddy Palle in Ramagiri mandal, Satya Sai district, following the murder of YSRC activist K. Lingamaiah during a clash at a temple on Ugadi. The incident took a political turn as YSRC accused Rapthadu MLA Paritala Sunitha and her brothers of orchestrating the attack.As YSRC leaders planned a protest, police blocked their entry into the village. Former YSRC MLA Topudurthi Prakash Reddy condemned the murder, alleging that it was carried out under the direction of Sunitha with police backing. He accused the police of shielding the perpetrators and enabling lawlessness under what he termed “Lokesh’s Red Book Constitution.”Prakash Reddy linked the murder to the Ramagiri mandal MPP by-election, where YSRC has eight MPTC seats against TD’s one. He alleged that TD, with police support, resorted to intimidation to prevent YSRC from securing the post. Despite court-ordered police protection, SI Sudhakar allegedly facilitated threats by video-calling Sunitha and her son Sriram. When YSRC MPTC members couldn’t attend the election due to threats, it was postponed. Later, SI Sudhakar allegedly forced them into a bind-over and attempted to hand them over to TD leaders.The former MLA accused Paritala Sriram of inciting TD workers, leading to violent attacks. On March 30, Lingamaiah was killed for opposing these assaults, and his son was injured. Though his family named six attackers—Adarsh, Manoj, Narsimha, Navakanth, Ramesh, and Suresh—police reportedly filed an FIR against only two and coerced the victim’s wife into signing statements under pressure.Meanwhile, Hindupur MP B.K. Parthasarathi visited Lingamaiah’s family and assured government support. A police picket has been set up in Papireddypalli to prevent further tensions.
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