Former Andhra Pradesh cabinet minister and a formidable leader from Rayalaseema region for Telugu Desam Party, Paritala Ravindra aka Ravi was murdered in broad daylight in a faction feud by his rivals in January 2005 at the party office in Ramnagar in Anantapur. It was a sensational murder case which created tremors in the political circles and the police department because Paritala Ravi was one of the most powerful leaders with a violent background in the united Andhra Pradesh.
After 18 years, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh granted bail to the convicts in this murder case. The convicts are Panduga Narayana Reddy (A-3), Rekamaiah (A-4), Ranganaikulu (A-5), Vadde Konda (A-6), and Obi Reddy (A-8). The main accused, Maddelacheruvu Suri alias Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy, was killed by his close associate Bhanu, while another accused, Moddu Sreenu, was murdered by a co-prisoner in Anantapur district prison.
The case was handed over to CBI in 2005 when Rajasekhar Reddy was the Chief Minister of the state and the investigation revealed that a conspiracy was hatched by Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy while he was undergoing life imprisonment for an earlier attempt to kill Paritala Ravindra on 19.11.1997, which was popularly known as Jubilee Hills Bomb Blast case.
As per CBI r report, Moddu Srinu, Narayana Reddy and Rekhamaiah shot Paritala Ravi and the remaining convicts assisted them with bombs and vehicles to fled the scene. The Anantapur sessions court convicted all eight persons and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Coincidentally, the case is back in the news when the Telugu Desam Party is back in power. Paritala Ravi’s wife Sunitha is a legislator representing Raptadu constituency and his son Sriram is also active in politics.
