A 40-year-old tribal was battered to death by a group of local people at Kudunuru village in Charla mandal on Sunday night.
The murder sparked angry protests by members of various Adivasi organisations in the remote village mainly inhabited by Adivasis, Dalits and other weaker sections on Monday.
The deceased was identified as B Raghavaiah, 40, of Botugudem in the same mandal.
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Raghavaiah was waylaid and beaten to death by a group of people at Kudunuru while he was on his way home on Sunday night. The deceased and the assailants belong to separate communities, sources said.
Tension broke out in the village on Monday morning when a group of irate Adivasis tried to lay siege to the house of a local CPI cadre suspecting his involvement in the murder.
They staged a sit-in demonstration in the village demanding severe punishment to the assailants and justice to the family of the deceased. A section of them linked the murder to a simmering group rivalry over “podu lands.”
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Bhadrachalam Assistant Superintendent of Police Rajesh Chandra rushed to the village along with a large posse of police personnel.
He assured a comprehensive and speedy probe into the murder case from all angles and stringent action against all those involved and behind the killing of the tribal man.
The agitators called off the stir following the assurance, sources added.
Sources said that the police were suspecting personal enmity or group rivalry as the possible motives for the killing.