Hyderabad: Nayeem’s death in a police encounter has sparked a political war, with leaders of both ruling and Opposition parties accusing each other of encouraging or using the renegade Naxal for political ends, land settlements and other nefarious activities and he finally being bumped off due to threats to ruling party leaders.
TRS Dubbaka MLA Solipeta Ramalinga Reddy alleged he was threatened by Nayeem in 2004 general elections and was warned not to contest the polls.
“But I brushed aside his threats and contested the election. I lodged a complaint with the Siddipet police against Nayeem. This government didn’t need Nayeem’s cooperation. In fact, Chandrababu Naidu and the previous governments backed him. It is not true that Nayeem was bumped off due to threats to TRS leaders,” he said. Former TD minister A. Uma Madhava Reddy and her son A. Sandeep Reddy denied links with gangster.
“The rumours are an attempt by either the TS government or the police to tarnish me and my family image. Why should I have links with him? I am not into real estate or land, money settlements. I don’t have to bump off an MLA so that I could contest. People voted me out and I will wait for five years,” she said.
“It’s unfair to tarnish image of a woman like this. Chief Minister will be held responsible,” she said. Mr Sandeep Reddy said those who had links with Nayeem in the past were now in TRS.
“There was no land, money settlement mafia in TD rule. It began from the Congress government in 2004. We have no links with gangsters. To protect some TRS leaders, we are targeted,” he said.
TD Kodangal MLA A. Revanth Reddy demanded judicial probe by a sitting High Court judge. “TRS government is trying to deflect attention from ruling party leaders’ links with Nayeem. Why is the government not coming out with official statement on Nayeem, his wealth and links etc? We will stand by Ms Reddy and her family,” he said.
