Hyderabad, Feb 20 (IANS) The murder of a man who had filed a complaint alleging corruption in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) following the sinking of piers of the Medigadda barrage has triggered a huge political row in Telangana, with his family members and leaders of the ruling Congress party blaming Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders for the killing.
Nagavelli Rajalingamurthy was brutally murdered in Bhupalpally town on Wednesday night.
His wife Sarla, a former Councillor of Bhupalpally Municipality, alleged that BRS leaders were behind the murder as he had exposed corruption in the Kaleshwaram project. She pointed fingers at a top leader of the BRS.
Murthy, who joined the Congress before 2023 Assembly elections, was attacked by three to four unidentified persons with sickles and knives when he was going. The assailants chased him and hacked him to death on the road.
According to local police, Murthy was involved in land disputes and they suspect the involvement of his rivals in the killing. He had escaped a few murder attempts in the past.
However, Murthy’s family alleged that BRS leaders were behind the murder. Leaders of the ruling party have also blamed the BRS. Leaders of the main Opposition party, however, rubbished the allegations.
Following the allegations, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) is reported to have sought information from Intelligence agencies.
The Telangana government is likely to order a Crime Branch/CID enquiry into the murder in view of the allegations made by Murthy’s family.
Significantly, Murthy had filed a case at the Bhupalpally police station in October 2023, seeking registration of an FIR against then Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), then irrigation minister T. Harish Rao and others after a couple of piers of Medigadda barrage, a part of Kaleshwaram project, had sunk.
As the police had refused to register an FIR, Murthy had approached the local magistrate court, which rejected his plea.
He subsequently approached the Principal Sessions Court, Bhupalpally, which issued notices to KCR, Harish Rao and others. However, the Telangana High Court granted a stay.
The sinking of piers of Medigadda had triggered a political uproar with the Opposition parties blaming the then BRS government for the incident due to alleged corruption and flawed design and poor quality of works on the project, billed as the world’s largest lift irrigation project.
Both Congress and BJP had made it a key issue during the November 2023 Assembly elections.
Top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with present Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had also visited the barrage during the poll campaign.
Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Bhupalapally, Gandra Satyanarayana Rao has demanded that the government order a thorough investigation into Murthy’s murder. He said those involved in the murder should get the harshest punishment.
–IANS
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