7 months after Andhra MLA, ex-legislator were gunned down, Maoist arrested

One of the accused in the brutal murder of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and ex-MLA Siveri Soma in Andhra Pradesh last year, was arrested by the Koraput police in Odisha this week. The police said that the accused was identified as Jayaram Khilla and belonged to the Nandapur Area Committee of the banned CPI(Maoist) party. The police said that Jayaram was allegedly involved in other cases as well, including one, where a sitting sarpanch in Odisha was killed by CPI(Maoist) cadres and another case where 3 excavator machines were set on fire under the jurisdiction of the Padwa Police Station.  The National Investigation Agency (NIA) which is presently probing the case has been intimated for necessary action and is expected to take him into custody for further interrogation soon.  The two politicians were gunned down on September 23 last year after they attended a party programme, near Lipittuputtu village, about 15 km from the Odisha border. The police said that the banned CPI (Maoist) was behind the attack, which was planned in Odisha, and added that the NIA has taken over the case suo moto, as it had the authority to investigate such inter-state cases. Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu had also visited the families of the slain TDP men at the time and assured them of financial assistance from the state government and the party. The police had earlier also released the names and pictures of three Maoists including two women who took part in the attack. Based on the information gathered from witnesses, the police said that the main accused in the killing was Aruna alias Venkataravi Chaitanya, a Special Zonal Committee Member (SZCM) of the CPI (Maoist). Aruna, who heads Nandapur Area Committee on Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), is suspected to have led a group of 50-60 Maoists who allegedly crossed over to Andhra Pradesh from Odisha. Aruna, a native of Visakhapatnam district, is wife of Pratapreddy Ramachandra Reddy alias Chalapati, who heads AOB Special Zonal Committee Military Commission.  IANS inputs