Hyderabad, Sep 15 (IANS): Three Telugu Desam Party (TDP) workers, all from the same family, were murdered Thursday in what appears to be another incident of factional violence in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district, police said.

Unidentified people hacked three people, including a woman, to death near Mamilapalli in Dharmavaram mandal of Anantapur district, about 450 km from here. Anantapur, bordering Karnataka is a part of Rayalaseema region, notorious for factional killings.

According to police, the assailants in a car intercepted the TDP workers riding a motorbike. They attacked them with sickles and other sharp-edged weapons. They, however, spared the life of a three-month-old girl accompanying the victims.

The slain workers have been identified as Narasimhulu, Anjaneyulu and Padmavati, all belonging to one family.

Police suspect it to be a case of factional feud.

Factional violence in the backward and drought-prone Rayalaseema region has claimed over 500 lives during the last 15 years. These factions, supported either by Congress or by TDP, fight for domination in villages.