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The family of a man who had moved court accusing former Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) of corruption in the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, alleged he was threatened and offered Rs 10 lakh to settle the case, days before he was found murdered on Wednesday.
N Sarala, wife of N Rajalingamurthy, who was stabbed to death by unidentified people on the outskirts of his village in Jayshankar Bhupalpally district, alleged the followers of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) former MLA Gandra Venkatramana Reddy, who is close to KCR's son and party's working president KT Rama Rao, carried out the attack.
"KTR's follower is Venkatramana Reddy. His follower is Haribabu. He got this done (murder). Around 10 days ago, my husband was threatened and offered Rs 10 lakh to withdraw the complaint in the corruption case against KCR," Sarala, who was a former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) councillor before moving to the Congress, said.
"Mr Reddy got my husband killed in the middle of the road because he filed a case in the Kaleshwaram case, fearing they may lose. I want justice. What will happen to my two children?" she added.
Rajalingamurthy's murder, which took place a day before a high court hearing in the corruption case, has triggered a massive political row, with the ruling Congress blaming the BRS. Police, however, said the victim was targeted over some land disputes.
In October 2023, Rajalingamurthy filed a private complaint in the court, seeking registration of a First Information Report (FIR) against KCR, who was then the Chief Minister, and others after some piers of the Medigadda barrage of the Kaleshwaram project "sank". He alleged irregularities in the construction of the project.
KCR, along with his nephew and former minister T Harish Rao, subsequently approached the Telangana High Court, which in December last year suspended an order passed by the principal district sessions judge in Jayashankar Bhupalpally, allowing a petition against them.
An inquiry commission constituted by the current Congress government on the alleged irregularities is expected to submit its report next month.
Mr Reddy, a former BRS MLA from Bhupalpally, dismissed the accusations against him. "Neither did I threaten nor did I offer Rs 10 lakh to anyone. The case is already in court. This is not going to change, whether Rajalingamurthy is alive or not. He was involved in land disputes. That is why he must have been targeted," he said.
The BRS also ruled out any possible role of its party leaders in the murder. It said neither Ms Sarala's complaint nor the FIR has named KTR or Mr Reddy.
Congress spokesperson Addanki Dayakar, however, alleged BRS' role in the murder. "There is a clear link. He (victim) was not just a complainant, he was also to give evidence about the irregularities in the Kaleshwaram case," he said.