Paritala Ravi Murder@Anantapur

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• published: 24 Nov 2014
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Paritala Ravi Murder@Anantapur Paritala Ravindra (Telugu: పరిటాల రవీంద్ర; 30 August 1958 – 24 January 2005), popularly known as "Paritala Ravi", was an Indian politician and factionist in the Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh, India. He was a former cabinet minister in Andhra Pradesh and a sitting Member of the Legislative Assembly when he was slain by his political rivals in 2005. He started as a communist in the footsteps of his father who donated his lands to poor people and later entered electoral politics by joining the Telugu Desam Party. He was elected five times as Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Penukonda constituency in Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh. Paritala Ravi was shot dead by his rivals on 24 January 2005. Ravi had attended a meeting in the TDP party office and when he came out of the party office, was ambushed by an unknown number of gunmen and was shot. Ravi succumbed to the bullet injuries on the way to hospital. The Anantapur District Court on 25 August 2011, sentenced 8 people to life imprisonment, for the brutal murder of TDP MLA Paritala Ravi. The Court also acquitted 4 persons in the case. There were a total of 16 accused in the case. Of them, 3 have been brutally killed, and one has turned approver. Following sharp criticism from Opposition parties, the then chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy ordered a CBI probe into the murder. However, before the CBI could begin investigations, one of the accused, M Rekhamaiah, surrendered before the Mahabubnagar police. The next week, 8 other accused surrendered. One of the prime accused, Joolakanti Srinivasa Reddy alias Moddu Seenu, claimed in a television interview that it was he who had shot Paritala Ravi dead. But on 9 November 2008, he was killed in the Anantapur jail by his rivals. The main accused in the case, Maddelacheruvu Suri(Gangula Surya Narayana Reddy), was murdered by his aide Bhanu Kiran on 4 January 2011 in Hyderabad for unknown reasons. The court delivered the verdict after examining 133 witnesses, including Paritala's father-in-law Kondanna, in the case. The court has convicted 8 accused - Hanumantha Reddy, Peddi Reddy, O B Reddy, Vadde Konda, Vadde Srinivasulu, Rekamayya, Narayana Reddy and Ranganayakulu - and the approver was Rammohan Reddy. 4 accused - G B Reddy, Anand Reddy (Rice Mama), Ramaswamy and Patola Govardhan Reddy - have been acquitted.[4] The criminal element in politics of Andhra Pradesh was in full view on 24 January 2005. when hired killers hurl bombs near party office and gunned down the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator Paritala Ravindra. The brutality of the murder, in broad daylight was sensational. According to media all this assassination was planned in Anathapuram jail and major ruling party leaders assisted in executing this. Before his assassination the TDP voiced its fears about possible attempts by his numerous enemies to kill him. As per media at least 12 attempts are made to assassinate Paritala Ravindra in a span of 10 years which he survived . Soon after the Congress came to power in the State in May 2004, the heavy security cover that Ravi had was drastically scaled down. He then petitioned the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ordered restoration of the 10 gunmen earlier deployed for his protection. Maddelacheruvu Suri tried to take vengeance by triggering a remote-controlled car bomb in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, in 1997 but missed his target, Paritala Ravi, who was then producing a movie called Sri Ramulayya based on his father's struggle against landlords. After his death, his wife Paritala Sunitha became M.L.A from his assembly constituency Penukonda.