Hyderabad, May 24 (IANS): Telangana’s Excise Minister, Jupally Krishna Rao has denied the accusations of murder made against him by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over the killings of two of its party functionaries in the last four months.
Jupally Krishna Rao on Friday termed baseless, the allegations made by BRS leaders and threatened to file a defamation case if they repeat their allegations.
He reacted strongly to the charges by BRS leaders against him after the murder of BRS worker Sridhar Reddy on Thursday in Jupally Krishna Rao’s constituency Kollapur.
Jupally Krishna Rao said it was unfortunate that BRS leaders were pursuing politics of murder.
The minister alleged the deceased Sridhar Reddy was involved in several disputes, including a property dispute with his family members.
Stating that BRS Working President, KT Rama Rao and the party’s Nagarkurnool Lok Sabha candidate, RS Praveen Kumar, were making baseless allegations against him, the minister demanded an apology from them.
He said the BRS leaders developed a grudge against him ever since he quit BRS to join the Congress and hence were accusing him of involvement in the murders.
He also claimed that Sridhar Reddy had no political links and was merely a follower of a former MLA.
He said several families had suffered due to Sridhar Reddy’s activities.
“When our workers died in the past, I made no allegation. It’s not proper to link murders to politics,” he said.
He wondered how KT Rama Rao could speak without gathering details about the case.
He said even the earlier murder was related to a land dispute and he got a clean chit after similar allegations were levelled against him.
The minister said that he has no problem if a judicial probe is ordered into Sridhar Reddy’s murder.
KT Rama Rao had on Thursday demanded dismissal of the minister from the Cabinet over the killings of two BRS functionaries in Kollapur constituency within four months.
The BRS leader visited Kollapur and paid tributes to Sridhar Reddy.
He accused the Congress of fostering a culture of political murders in Telangana.