TRS leader arrested in Telangana lawyer couple murder case; illegal land deal angle surfaces

Telangana Police has arrested a local leader of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and two others in connection with the daylight killing of a lawyer couple this Wednesday. The ruling party has already suspended him. The couple were dragged out of their car in broad daylight and were stabbed to death in front of several people. Vaman Rao and his wife were practising lawyers in Telangana High Court. During his last moments, Vaman Rao had named the TRS leader behind the attack. Police said that TRS Manthani Mandal unit president Kunta Srinivas allegedly made the murderous attack on Gattu Vaman Rao and his wife P V Nagamani.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the lawyer couple had sought protection from the high court, alleging police harassment over their PIL which sought a probe into an alleged custodial death.

The couple were known for their activism and had filed many police complaints against some local politicians alleging suspicious land deals.

The Police had named Srinivas and Veldi Vasantha Rao in the FIR, on the basis of a complaint filed by Rao’s father G Kishan Rao. The FIR also named a third suspect — Akkapaka Kumar.

G Kishan Rao had claimed that his son and daughter-in-law were killed because they had threatened to expose illegal land deals.

Kishan Rao told the IE that his son had filed several complaints against local real estate developers and politicians for alleged land grabbing.

Telangana Home Minister M Mahmood Ali had said the state government had taken a serious note of the incident. He said that the government has directed police to conduct a thorough probe and arrest the culprits.

Meanwhile, the BJP has sought a response from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao over the incident.

The Telangana High Court has also issued a suo motu notice to the state government and asked Advocate General BS Prasad to file a status report on the investigation.