Ex-naxalite, BJP members behind attack on TDP MLA

The brutal assault on senior Telugu Desam Party legislator Dr Nagam Janardhan Reddy in Osmania University campus was handiwork of a former naxalite Srikant Raju, who has several criminal cases against him.

Another person Rajiv Reddy, a lawyer from the Bharatiya Janata Party, was also identified as one of the culprits in the attack cases.

The two were identified from the photographs and the television footage of the outrageous incident in which 55-year-old Janardhan Reddy was beaten up chappals (slippers), hands and blows were rained on his head and his shirt was torn.

Even as Janardhan Reddy tried to escape from the group, which had surrounded him, the assailants chased and gave him blows. Dr Reddy fell down on the ground as the lawyer put his foot in the way of the TDP leader. Hundreds of students were present when miscreants chased and beat up the TDP leader while other leaders escaped narrowly.

After the channels repeatedly telecast the footage, Srikant Raju himself called one of the channels and owned responsibility, saying he was angered by the change of stand by the TDP against Telangana.

The CID has started its investigation in to the case and search was for the two assailants.

Inspector General Punna Rao visited Osmania University campus on Friday and gathered information about the incident.

The Joint Action Committee of Osmania University Students strongly denied any links with the attack on NJR saying there was no reason for them to do any such thing when the TDP leaders had come to extend their support to them.

Not leaving the matters there, a group of leaders of student's JAC visited Janardhan Reddy's visit to express their regrets over the incident. They also met the TDP legislators in the state assembly to clarify their position. The TDP MLAs assured the students leaders of their full support to their current agitation.

Janardhan Reddy, who was yet to recover from the harrowing experiences, said: "It is a rebirth for me."

"At one stage, my breath had stopped. It was only the spirit of Telangana and the blessings of the people of my constituency, which saved my life," he said.

Janardhan Reddy, who will be the convenor of TDP's Telangana Sadhana Samiti urged the students to agitate for Telangana peacefully.

"It would be better if Telangana and Andhra separate like brothers," he said.