Published Sep 03, 2022 | 11:01 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 04, 2022 | 12:41 PM
BJP corporator Baddam Prem Maheshwar Reddy. (Facebook/Baddam Prem Maheshwar Reddy)
Just days after the BJP’s Goshamal MLA T Raja Singh was arrested for disturbing communal peace, a party corporator was arrested on Saturday, 3 September, for an alleged kidnapping plot linked to a property feud.
The police identified the GHMC corporator as Baddam Prem Maheshwar Reddy, who represents the Gaddiannaram ward.
The Rachakonda police has so far apprehended 10 suspects for the alleged abduction of 21-year-old Lanka Subramanyam.
The police are hunting for five absconding suspects, including a BJP Telangana worker named Shravan, who is said to be the prime conspirator, along with the arrested GHMC corporator.
“This is both a political issue as well as a property issue. Both Lanka Laxmi Narayana (the victim’s father) and Maheshwar Reddy are members of BJP and had a prior rift with each other,” a senior Special Operations Team (SOT) LB Nagar officer told South First.
The Saroornagar police, which arrested the accused in a joint operation with SOT, have booked them under IPC Sections 363 (punishment for kidnapping), 364 (kidnapping to murder), 367 (grievous injuries during kidnapping), 342 (illegal confinement of a person), 324 (hurt by dangerous weapons), and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
The accused have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days and have been sent to Cherlapalli jail.
“BJP will take strict action against the corporator, if found guilty. Such actions are against the party guidelines. Just like in the past, the party took a strict stand and suspended Uma Bharti, Nupur Sharma, and Raja Singh,” BJP Telangana spokesperson NV Subhash told South First.
The police claimed that the accused, initially, hatched a conspiracy to also abduct the victim’s father, Lanka Laxmi Narayana — a former rowdy sheeter.
“Laxmi Narayana had a property dispute with his brother Lanka Murali, who sought the help of BJP members Shravan and Maheshwar Reddy to settle the issue,” the officer told South First.
The cops added that both Maheshwar Reddy and Shravan also had prior issues with Narayana, owing to which they agreed to help his brother Lanka Murali.
“Reddy handed the kidnapping contract to his friend Puneet Tiwari, an employee of the Finance Department in the Telangana Secretariat. He also asked Tiwari to severely beat up the father-son duo,” said the police.
According to the police, Tiwari gathered the suspects in the early hours of 2 September and reached Narayana’s house, and kidnapped his son, Subramanyam.
“While Subramanyam was shouting, the accused looked for his father Narayana, but the latter was not found anywhere. So, they forced Subramanyam into the car and first took him to a room in nearby BVK theatre at LB Nagar. From there the victim was shifted to Hayathnagar and then to Chinthalapally in the Nalgonda district. All this while they mercilessly thrashed him,” the cops claimed.
After rescuing the victim on 2 September itself, the cops arrested nine of the accused on the same day.
“From Puneet Tiwari’s WhatsApp chat, we established that Maheshwar Reddy was the kingpin of the kidnapping,” the police said.
Along with the corporator, the cops identified the nine arrested accused as Puneet Tiwari, Pothaboina Manjunath, Kandala Pavan Kumar, and Revally Chandrakanth — all residents of Telangana — whereas the rest of the accused — Kumbagiri Karthik, Morupoju Ravi Varma, Palalparthi Ravi, Ravala Hemanth, Balivada Praneeth — are residents of Andhra Pradesh.
The police alleged Maheshwar Reddy and his aides were involved in another kidnapping case, registered in Saroornagar police station on 28 August.
“A case was registered against Baddam Prem Maheshwar Reddy, Puneet Tiwari, Ravi Varma and Koteshwar Rao for torturing Bhuvanagiri Jayashankar for the repayment of ₹1 lakh which he owed to Koteswara Rao. This case is under investigation,” the cops added.
