Industry circles in Hyderabad are alarmed over the attack on Aurobindo Pharma Ltd Vice-Chairman, K Nityananda Reddy, this morning.

Reddy escaped unhurt when a miscreant, armed with an AK-47 gun, barged into his car and fired at him this morning at the KBR Park in Banjara Hills here. He later fled leaving the weapon in the car.

"Whatever might be the motive, this attack is very alarming and could send wrong signals to outsiders,’’ Shiv Kumar Rungta, President, Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Fapcci), the joint industry body for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, said.

"`To my memory this was the first of its kind attack on a corporate honcho. The location of the incident, where the chief ministers of two states reside, is also a very serious issue. I also go there everyday,’’ he said.

Many top industrialists, officials and political leaders go to the KBR Park located right opposite to the party offices of the Telugu Desam and Telangana Rashtra Samithi for morning walk.

A Vice-President of another leading pharma company said there should be speedy investigation into the incident as it could dent the brand image of Hyderabad as a destination for investments.

"I know Reddy as a very soft-spoken and low-profile man who hardly speaks. It is surprised that he was attacked,’’ he said.

In April 2012, he was named as accused in a charge-sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation in the illegal assets case of YSR Congress party chief Y S Jaganmohan Reddy.

According to CBI, Aurobindo had allotted about 75 acres in a special economic zone for Rs 7 lakh an acre against Rs 15 lakh fixed by the Government.

It was suspecting a quid pro quo in the transaction by pointing at the Rs 10-crore investments made by Nithyananda Reddy’s wife Rajeshwari, son Prasad Reddy and a closely-held entity Trident Lifesciences in Jagathi Publications.

Meanwhile, police has identified the weapon as the one stolen from the Greyhounds.

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