Six of Naxal gang suspected to have killed TRS leader held

HYDERABAD: Six members of a gang allegedly belonging to former Naxal leader Nayeem, who is on the radar of Andhra Pradesh police in connection with the murder of TRS leader K Ramulu, were arrested in Thiruvananthapuram today, police said.

Ramulu, a member of Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) executive committee and brother of former top Maoist leader Sambashivudu, was shot dead by unidentified persons on May 11 in Nalgonda town of Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, fugitive Nayeemuddin alias Nayeem had emerged as the prime suspect behind the killing of Ramulu.

"We have got information on arrest of six persons in Trivandrum. It is still not clear whether they are members of Nayeem's gang. Their involvement in the killing of Ramulu is also not confirmed...however, we are sending a police team to Kerala to interrogate the arrested persons," Nalgonda district Superintendent of Police T Prabhakar Rao told PTI.

Sambashivudu, a TRS polit bureau member, was hacked to death by unidentified assailants using sickles and swords also in Nalgonda district in March 2011. Incidentally, Nayeem was listed as the main accused in the murder of Konapuri Ilaiah alias Sambashivudu.

The district police had in April 2011 arrested five of the 12 accused in Sambasivudu's murder and claimed that the accused killed Sambashivudu at the behest of Nayeem.

Even Ramulu had earlier told a private TV news channel that his life was under threat from Nayeem. Police had also suspected the role of Nayeem in the murder of Ramulu.