Panel to probe Anantapur factional killings

The state cabinet that met here today has decided to appoint an enquiry commission headed by a retired High Court judge to investigate the factional killings and related issues in Anantapur district from 1989 onwards. The commission will have to complete its probe within three months.

A spate of revenge killings targeting members of the opposition Telugu Desam Party in Anantapur and the subsequent accusations levelled by its leader Chandrababu Naidu against chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy has, apparently, prompted the government to set the records straight.

Addressing a media conference after the cabinet meeting, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, minister for information and public relations, said that the commission will probe into the factional killings and missing cases, right from the time the Congress government returned to power in 1989, so that an objective picture emerges to tackle the problem effectively.

"Though factionalism was not just limited to Anantapur, the mix of naxalism and factionalism in this district has made it a unique problem of this area," the minister said while explaining the rationale behind the decision to appoint an enquiry commission.

It may be recalled that TDP legislator Paritala Ravindra, who comes from a naxalite background, has been at the centre of controversy over the years.

While TDP leaders hold the district minister J C Divakar Reddy responsible for all the killings until now, the Congress party believes that Ravindra's previous acts are responsible for the present mayhem.