YSR Congress leader Banka Nagabhushanam Reddy, 48, of Kuppalapalle village in Vempalle mandal, was allegedly hacked to death near the Andhra Pradesh Urdu Residential School on Pulivendula Road in Vempalle town of Kadapa district on Friday night.
Nagabhushanam Reddy, who runs a hardware shop in Vempalle town, was allegedly waylaid by a group of persons and hacked to death with hunting sickles, while he was going home alone on a motorcycle, according to the police.
He is survived by wife and two daughters. The police recovered a knife, helmet and liquor bottles from the scene of murder.
Vempalle police registered a case against five persons Gokanapalle Purushotham Reddy, Gokanapalle Nagamuni Reddy, Gokanapalle Gopal Reddy, Gokanapalle Sasidhar Reddy and Varaprasada Reddy on a complaint lodged by the brothers of the deceased.
The accused are absconding and would be arrested soon, the Vempalle police said.
Land dispute
Police suspected that the murder could be a sequel to a land dispute in which Nagabhushanam had supported cattle-rearers six months ago.
