Tadipatri Inspector dies by suicide; JC Prabhakar Reddy, Peddareddy spar over reason

ANANTAPUR: An Inspector in Tadipatri died by suicide by hanging himself on Monday, amid conflicting reports on the motive for the extreme step. Ananda Rao, the Circle Inspector, ended his life at his residence. While the police are in the process of ascertaining the exact reasons for the suicide Ananda Rao’s daughter Bhavya alleged that her father took the extreme step due to work-related stress and political pressures in Tadipatri.

Anantapur district Superintendent of Police Srinivas Rao visited the Inspector’s house in Tadipatri and spoke to the family members. Speaking to the media later, the SP termed Ananda Rao’s suicide as unfortunate. He refuted the claims of political reasons and asserted that the latter had died by suicide due to family disputes. The SP, on this occasion, hailed Ananda Rao’s services as the Circle Inspector in Tadipatri in handling law and order issues.

The Inspector’s suicide however assumed a bit of political colour and sparked a verbal clash between bitter rivals, Tadipatri MLA Kethireddy Peddareddy and former legislator JC Prabhakar Reddy. It all started with JC Prabhakar Reddy alleging political pressure from the Tadipatri MLA which drove him into the extreme step. He also claimed that pressure was being mounted on the Inspector’s family to portray the suicide as a result of family disputes.

Stating that the suicide of Ananda Rao was unfortunate, JC Prabhakar Reddy said that the latter was facing political pressure for the last five months. "There is so much pressure on the police in Tadipatri and the suicide of the Inspector is an example of the sorry state of law and order," JC asserted.

Tadipatri MLA Kethireddy Peddareddy, while expressing his anguish over the suicide of Ananda Rao, rubbished Prabhakar Reddy’s allegations that he exerted pressure on the Inspector. Claiming that there was no political pressure on the Inspector, Peddareddy said that he was not such a person like JC Prabhakar Reddy to stoop so low. He chided Prabhakar Reddy for playing politics even on someone’s death and advised the latter to refrain from such cheap tactics.