Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh has been reeling under political clashes from the past few months. Even after the new government took charge, the police force is unable to clamp down violence in this highly contentious area which has been making headlines quite often due to clashes and murders.
On Wednesday night, a YSR Congress party youth secretary was hacked to death on road in Vinukonda. The person was identified as Shaik Rashid who works in a government liquor shop near bus stand. His friend Shaik Jilani attacked him with a sickle when Rashid was returning home after his work. Rashid was brutally injured in the attack and succumbed to injuries as he was being taken to hospital. The onlookers were petrified with the gory sight with pool of blood scattered all over the place.
The district police immediately arrested Shaik Jilani on spot and ruled out any political conspiracy involved in the attack. The district SP Kanche Srinivas Rao officially stated that personal rivalry is the reason for this clash and said there is no political agenda involved.
Meanwhile, TDP and YSR Congress party supporters traded charges on each other over this brutal incident. While the TDP claimed that both the murderer and the person who died in this clash belong to the same party, the YSRCP condemned the attack as a vengeful act due to lawlessness in the new government.
A case has been registered and the police are investigating the matter after the murderer surrendered before them. The Palnadu district is on high alert after the incident.
This is not the first that political clashes broke out in Palnadu district. Even during the recent polls, violence was rampant as the then ruling party MLA and his supporters resorted to assaults and attacks on TDP supporters of the area. Former MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy was arrested in connection with poll violence and he is currently lodged in Nellore sub jail.
