Kothur kidnap, murder victim was a scribe; local leader’s role suspected

KOTHUR (Ranga Reddy district): Startling revelations came to the fore from the shocking kidnap and murder case that sent shockwaves in Kothur of Ranga Reddy district since Sunday night.

According to reports, Mamidi Karunakar Reddy (29), the victim, was a scribe, having worked as a reporter for a daily newspaper. As per the accusations made by his family members, the gruesome killing could be a fallout of the differences he allegedly had with a local people’s representative, whose name and identity has not been specified yet. The leader also hails from Mallapur, the native village of Karunakar Reddy.

After working with the daily newspaper for a long time, Karunakar reportedly quit the job only a few months ago and took up another job as a document writer at the Tehsildar office in Kothur.

He reportedly ventured out in his car along with his neighbour Sridhar Reddy on Sunday night. When they were proceeding from Cheguru to Thimmapur, they were waylaid by the assailants near Thigapur. They smashed the glass windows of the car and attacked Sridhar Reddy before kidnapping Karunakar in another car.

The police, who were alerted about the abduction based on the inputs provided by Sridhar Reddy, launched a search and rescue operation. They received information at around 2 am on Monday that some unidentified persons abandoned a dead body inside a private hospital in Gachibowli and fled the scene. After examining the body, the police could identify that it was indeed Karunakar Reddy, who was kidnapped earlier in the night.

The body was later shifted to the Osmania Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Even as the police are on the lookout for the culprits, family members of Karunakar suspect the role of a Kothur mandal-level people’s representative behind the kidnap and murder. It is reported that both Karunakar and the local leader hail from Mallapur. Until a few months back, Karunakar Reddy used to be a close follower of the leader. Due to some differences, Karunakar Reddy parted ways and had even severed his ties with the leader. Subsequently, the two were said to have been involved in a few skirmishes which resulted in police cases as well.

The family members and relatives alleged in their police complaint that the followers and own brothers of the people’s representative had kidnapped and killed Karunakar Reddy, to avenge their grudge against him. The mobile phones of the local leader and his henchmen remain switched off since the time the incident happened even as the police said that they were absconding.