Jangaon: RTI activist killed over land dispute; BRS leader’s husband among 3 held

Telangana: A Right to Information (RTI) activist was killed in the Jangaon district over a land dispute.

Police have arrested three people for allegedly kidnapping and killing the retired Mandal Parishad Development Officer (MPDO).

The murder of 70-year-old Nalla Ramakrishnaiah came to light on Sunday when his body was discovered in a water-filled quarry, three days after he had gone missing.

Before this, the victim's son had filed a missing complaint.

“G Anjaiah, the prime accused, had a dispute with Ramakrishnaiah and held a grudge against him for reporting him to government officials over a land issue. Anjaiah allegedly hired a contract-killing gang to kill Ramakrishnaiah,” a police official said,

On June 15, the gang reportedly kidnapped Ramakrishnaiah in Pochannapeta. They used a towel to strangle him to death and then dumped his body in a quarry pond.

On June 18, the police arrested G Anjaiah, the prime accused, along with two contract killers. They are currently making efforts to arrest the remaining absconding accused.

“Ramakrishnaiah had been actively involved in filing RTI applications, civil suits in court, and approached the Human Rights Commission regarding Anjaiah's occupation of government-assigned land in Pochannapet village. This resulted in personal enmity between them, leading Anjaiah to hire the gang to kill the former MPDO,” police said.

Police said G Anjaiah, the husband of a local Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) member belonging to the ruling BRS party, contacted Tirupati and offered him Rs 8 lakh to eliminate Ramakrishnaiah.

“Tirupati agreed to carry out the job and received an advance amount of Rs 50,000 from Anjaiah,” police said.

Inputs from PTI