A leader of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samithi (MRPS) died after he was reportedly attacked by unidentified persons around Thursday midnight.
The victim, Chatla Pandu (46), was rushed to Bhuvanagiri Area Hospital in an 108 ambulance after locals found him in a pool of blood. He was then shifted to the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad, where he was declared dead.
Valigonda police said the incident was reported by few villagers who were returning home at around 10 p.m. on Thursday. Reportedly, Pandu had completed his work at the mandal headquarters and was returning home to Lingarajupalli at around 9.30 p.m., when unidentified persons attacked him with sticks.
The victim lay in a pool of blood with head injuries, a few hundred metres from the village, and soon rushed to Bhuvanagiri for emergency care. At the Gandhi Hospital in the wee hours of Friday, he was declared dead.
Police said the victim’s family submitted a petition, but did not express doubt on any known persons.
Pandu’s body was handed over to his family on Friday afternoon and a pall of gloom descended on Lingarajupalli. Soon, leaders of MRPS and other voluntary organisations staged protest in Valigonda demanding expeditious action. They also demanded that the government extend compensation and jobs to Pandu’s wife Durgamani and their two children, one of whom is in school and the other a college-goer.
Choutuppal ACP P. Sathaiah along with DCP K. Narayana Reddy, who visited the crime scene, pressed the services of dog squad and forensic experts to collect evidence as part of the investigation.
