TDP MLA, ex-legislator shot dead in Andhra

Visakhapatnam: A ruling TDP MLA and a former legislator of his party were shot dead on Sunday by Maoists in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district, police said.
In what is said to be first major attack by the Maoists on public representatives in nearly a decade, K. Sarveswara Rao, 45, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLA from Araku (Reserved-Scheduled Tribe) and his party colleague and former MLA Siveri Soma, 52, were attacked near Thutangi village, about 125 km from the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, while they were returning from a programme at a village in Araku, a tribal area.
They were intercepted by a group of armed Maoists, including women, while they were returning in two vehicles.
After ordering others to leave, they began talking to the MLA and the former MLA about their alleged role in mining in agency areas. They later pumped bullets into the two leaders, killing them on the spot. Both were shot in the head and chest.
Director General of Police Ch. Srikanth said that the crime occurred between noon and 1 p.m. about 15 km from the Odisha border.
He said that the Maoists snatched the weapons from the two leaders’ security guards before sending them away.
Senior police officials rushed to the spot as the bodies were taken to the King George Hospital at Visakhapatnam for autopsy. (IANS)