Hyderabad: Assailants opened fire and wounded an astrologer at Saroornagar on Wednesday afternoon.
T. Nagaraju, 56, a famous astrologer of the East Godavari district, suffered three bullet injuries and was admitted to a private hospital’s Intensive Care Unit after his attackers fired five bullets at him.
The attack is suspected to be a fall out of an on-going rivalry between two faction groups, who are also relatives, from Pinakadimi village of EG.
The seven-year-old rivalry had led to the killing of four people in 2014. Mr Nagaraju was the main accused in one of these murders and police suspects that his assailants wanted to take revenge.
His family had come to the city six months ago from their village to escape further attacks from the rival group.
His son, T. Shiva Krishna, alleged that his father-in-law Botham Govind and his brother Botham Srinivas, had sent contract killers to attack his father. “Govind has been targeting my family for two years, after I married his daughter. We were prominent leaders in our village, and they wanted to wipe us out to become the leaders,” he alleged.
Mr Nagaraju was returning home from Jingalabhavi Colony. “As he was entering his compound, two men on a bike fired at him and fled,” said DCP of LB Nagar Tafseer Iqbal. The police recovered five cartridges from the site. “Three relatives of Nagaraju were shot dead while they were going to attend court last year. We are examining the angles and collaborating with the Vijayawada police,” said Mr Iqbal.
