Minister accuses YSRCP of conspiracy in TDP leader’s murder in Kurnool
Industries and Commerce Minister T.G. Bharath Gupta has alleged that the murder of the TDP leader Imtiyaz Basha from Kurnool city was pre-planned. He also
Industries and Commerce Minister T.G. Bharath Gupta has alleged that the murder of the TDP leader Imtiyaz Basha from Kurnool city was pre-planned. He also criticised the Intelligence department for its failure to prevent the murder. Speaking to the media here on Monday, Mr. Bharath claimed that Imtiyaz was murdered for raising his voice against the encroachments on Handi river. “The murder was not committed as projected over a discussion regarding ₹5,000 or ₹10,000. There is a clear conspiracy and the conspirators lured one of our own party member (A4 in the case) to commit the offence,” Mr. Bharath alleged. The Minister claimed that he himself had asked the Revenue officials to remove the encroachments, however, only some of them were removed, which prompted Imtiyaz to continue the fight.
“This led to his murder and the persons belonging to the YSR Congress Party are behind it,” he alleged. Mr. Bharath further alleged that the assailants, who were released from prison just a few days back, had told some of the inmates that they would come back soon. The Minister also displayed some social media posts of Imtiyaz’s photo with the caption “rest in peace (RIP)” posted one week before the killing. “What is the intelligence department doing? the Minister questioned. “They keep a tabs on where the MLAs and MPs go, which movie they watch, and to which restaurant they go, but they failed to gather information about illegal activities,” he said.
The Minister said that he would take up the issue with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to ensure justice for Imtiyaz. The Minister stated that Imtiyaz had filed a nomination as an independent candidate during the previous elections and recounted that YSRCP members had threatened him to withdraw his nomination. After elections, Imtiyaz joined the TDP. Mr Bharath also alleged that three murders had taken place in Kurnool over the past two years and YSRCP was involved in all the three cases. “The police must take this matter seriously, at least now,” the Minister said. “We will not remain as silent spectators if YSRCP continues this attitude,” he added.
Bharath also recalled that factionalism in Kurnool had been brought under control during the TDP government’s tenure between 1994 and 2004. “A situation might arise where we have to take strict measures once again. Just as we put an end to faction politics, we will take stern action to wipe out the current rowdy elements as well,” he said.
The BriefWire