ANANTAPUR: Anantapur district additional sessions court sentenced Dantuluri Krishna alias Mangali Krishna and three others for five-year imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 each on Wednesday in connection with a conspiracy to murder former TDP leader Paritala Ravi using a suitcase bomb in 2001.
Krishna is believed to be a close follower of YSR Congress president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He is also said to be a close aide of Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy alias Maddelachervu Suri and rumoured to be a benami for Bhanu Kiran’s properties, who was arrested by the CID for Suri’s murder recently.
On Wednesday, district additional sessions court judge R Satyaveni convicted Mangali Krishna of Pulivendula in Kadapa district along with Ramachandra Reddy, Sudhakar Reddy and Madhusudhan Reddy, all from CK Palle in Anantapur district. Among the remaining 10 accused in the case, six persons were declared not guilty while three died during the course of investigation and one is at large.
According to the prosecution, Mangali Krishna along with 13 others conspired to kill Paritala Ravindra using a suitcase bomb on March 19, 2001. However, the police foiled the plot when they arrested one Obulpathy at NTR circle in the town with a suitcase containing the bomb. Though Ravi survived the murder attempt, he was shot dead in Anantapur on January 24, 2005. During the course of police investigation, Obulapathy revealed the names of 14 others including Mangali Krishna who conspired the murder. The court hearing commenced in 2005 leading to conviction of the four accused on Wednesday.
Mangali Krishna’s conviction in the case comes as a major blow to YSR Congress party as he is known to be an active member of the party and close follower of party chief Jagan. The CBI which investigated the allegations that Jagan Mohan Reddy had a role in the elimination of Paritala Ravindra, subsequently took light of the allegation.
Following allegations by the TDP against Jagan and senior Congress leader JC Diwakar Reddy for their alleged involvement in Paritala Ravi’s murder, the then chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy ordered for a CBI probe. However, the CBI later said no evidence was found against either Jagan or Diwakar Reddy.
Interestingly, Mangali Krishna is also known to be a close aide of gangster Suri. His name cropped up after the murder of Suri in Hyderabad on January 3 last year and again during the CID investigation following the arrest of Bhanu recently for Suri’s murder. Bhanu is learnt to have confessed that Krishna was his benami and together, they were involved in various deals including real estate dealings.
Krishna, however, denied the allegations against him.