TIRUPATI: S Chandrasekhar alias Chintu was on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment for attempting to murder former Congress MLA CK Babu in 2007. Chittoor 9th additional Municipal Magistrate Kabarthi convicted prime accused deceased TDP leader Katari Mohan too, but acquitted 16 others in the case. The Congress leader was leaving his residence along with his gunman Surendra Babu and few others in a car on December 31, 2007 when the accused set off a landmine.
The gunman died, but CK Babu and the others escaped with injuries. During the course of the case’s 10-year long court trial, Katari Mohan and his wife Katari Anuradha, who was Chittoor Mayor at the time, were murdered by Chintu and his men in November 2015. Chintu, who is Anuradha’s nephew, was arrested after the incident. He is currently lodged at the Kadapa Central Jail. The rivalry between CK Babu and Katari Mohan was no secret. CK Babu and his wife Lavanya joined the BJP in November 2017. The police mentioned 81 witnesses including CK babu in the chargesheet filed in the case. Over 50 people were questioned in the case.