VIJAYAWADA: NTR district police registered a case against former AP State FiberNet Limited (APSFL) chairman Punuru Gowtham Reddy and others on charges of murder attempt in connection with a land dispute. Sastry, the complainant, alleged that the YSRC leader had occupied his ancestral property some years ago and constructed a house without any necessary permissions from the municipal corporation during the previous regime. The complainant also accused Gowtham Reddy of registering the property on his wife’s name using forged documents and will, and applied for a building plan approval.
Disclosing the case details to mediapersons on Thursday, NTR district Commissioner of Police SV Rajashekhar Babu said the prime accused Gowtham Reddy hired killers to cause harm to Ganduri Uma Maheswara Sastry, whose 325 square yards land in Satyanarayanapuram was encroached by the YSRC leader.
The four hired killers were identified as Gaddam Chinni (25), Taluri Ganesh (19), Devella Vamsi (21) and U Ashok Kumar (20) of Jaggaiahpet.
The CP said Gowtham Reddy along with his close aides had been threatening the Sastry to leave the property to them, and even attacked him several times in the past.
“On November 6, Sastry was attacked by four unknown miscreants and they warned him to leave the country. On October 31, two unidentified persons barged into Sastry’s house and attacked him.
This continued another time on November 6 as Sastry did not stop his legal fight. “Based on the available CCTV camera footage, we have identified the accused and took them into custody.
His close aides Prudhvi, Anil and Purushottam played a crucial role in the attacks. Search is on to find five other accused, including Gowtham Reddy,” he said.
The CP further said there were 42 cases against Gowtham Reddy, including two murder cases, and a detailed investigation would be conducted to find out how the rowdy sheet against him was closed.