21 get life term for AP mass murders

The Adoni sessions court in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday handed down life imprisonment to 21 accused in the gruesome murder of Telugu Desam Party leader Palegar Venkatappa Naidu (63) and 10 of his followers in 2008.

In all, three of those convicted died during the six-year  trial. Divakar Naidu,the  Sarpanch of Kappatralla is absconding. The court while sending the 21 convicted  to the  Adoni Sub Jail also slapped a fine of Rs 1,000 each on them and let off 27 accused.

On May 17, 2008, the accused rammed a truck into the jeep of Venkatappa Naidu and ten others were done to death near Kodumur in Kurnool district.  The attackers hurled crude bombs and butchered them with hunting sickles as the victims lay incapacitated in the mangled jeep.

While,  Venkatappa Naidu (63), his police gunman Ramudu, driver Chenna Kesavulu, and his nephew Sivasankar Naidu and five others were killed on the spot, others died in Government General Hospital with severe injuries.

Naidu’s murder, said to be a retaliation against the murder of a Congress activist Ranganna, was reminiscent to a crime movie. The killers closely followed Naidu from his village, Kappatralla, and informed the attackers about the position of Naidu’s jeep even though he frequently shifted from jeep to jeep. Naidu had earlier survived 12 attacks on his life.