SRIKAKULAM: A mofussil reporter of a leading vernacular daily allegedly died by suicide on the outskirts of Seethamvalasa village in Ranastalam mandal of the district. The deceased was identified as Girija Damodara Rao (45) of Lavetipalem village in Laveru mandal.
Though Rao went missing on Tuesday, police found his body on Thursday. However, the death of Rao has created a political stir as he reportedly mentioned the names of Etcherla MLA Gorle Kiran Kumar and YSRC leader Lankapalli Gopi in his suicide note.
According to sources, Rao played a key role as a YSRC activist in the victory of Kiran Kumar in the last elections. However, he allegedly developed a rift with the MLA due to some local issues a few months ago. Rao went missing after dropping his wife at the ICDS office in Ranastalam. His family members lodged a missing complaint in Laveru police station. Meanwhile, some villagers of Seethamvalasa found Rao’s body with an empty poison bottle near it on Thursday evening.
Having learnt about it, JR Puram police reached the spot and started investigation. Following an agitation by Rao’s family members, police disclosed that they recovered a suicide note from his shirt pocket. In the suicide note, Rao reportedly stated that he took the extreme step unable to bear the ‘harassment’ of Kiran Kumar and Gopi.
“We have handed over the body of Rao to his family members after conducting the postmortem. A case has been registered under Section 174 of CrPC and investigation is on,” JR Puram SI Rajesh told TNIE.
Reacting on the incident, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu blamed the YSRC government for the death of the reporter. TDP and JSP activists participated in the funeral of Rao.