Amaravati, India March 9, 2022: A local Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader, Kona Venkata Rao, consumed poison and killed himself after alleging that he was harassed by the local Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) leader and the local police in Indian state Andhra Pradesh.
He died on Tuesday, March 8, while the family was shifting him to Palasa Government Hospital from Pothangi village.
The incident took place in Pothangi village under Mandasa Mandal of Srikakulam district. Rao’s wife, Krishnaveni, and relatives said that the police were harassing him after he made a certain post on social media, questioning the ruling party.
Soon, several TDP leaders reached the hospital and argued with the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Shivarami Reddy in Palasa Government Hospital , said that the police had a role in his death. Party chief Chandrababu Naidu also reacted to the death of his party leader and extended condolences.
He said that the police were harassing the party leader at the behest of local YSRCP Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Duvvada Srinivas.
Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, "Kona Venkatrao Mummatiki, a Telugudesam activist from Pothangi village, Mandasa Mandal, Srikakulam district, was murdered by the government. Tortured to death for questioning on social media."
On the other hand, a BJP youth leader, Amresh Tiwari (Muni), was murdered over a land dispute in Kanpur Dehat in Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, a woman's charred dead body was found in Kavali, a town in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh while five people of a family were killed in a house fire in Varkala in Kerala state. sources