NIZAMABAD: A police constable committed suicide here by shooting himself with his service revolver atop a cell phone tower here in the wee hours of today in support of separate Telangana, police said P Kistaiah (37), associated with the Machareddy police station, climbed a mobile phone tower in Kamareddy and raised slogans in support of Telangana Policemen and civilians who gathered there tried to placate him to come down but he shot himself with his service revolver, Kamareddy police sub-inspector B Shankar said. Police later recovered a suicide note purportedly written by Kistaiah.
“I am dying for the cause of separate Telangana. Drive people of Andhra from Telangana and fight for separate statehood,’’ Shankar said quoting the suicide note.
Kistaiah also made an appeal to the OU students not to stop their fight for separate statehood. ``Telangana is important than your studies. You get jobs only in a separate state. Fight for it,’’ he said in the letter. Kistaiah was part of many encounters against Maoists and therefore was given a weapon.
He hailed from Shivaipally in Bhiknoor mandal of Nizamabad district. Sources said Kistaiah was also depressed over denial of promotion.
Though his batchmates were promoted as head constables and Assistant Sub-Inpsectors, Kistaiah was not promoted and he suspected that being a Telanganite, he was marginalised in the department.