Tadipatri, July 24 :-
The ugly faction war raised its ugly head once again in Tadipatri of Anantapur district on Friday.
Tension gripped Tadipatri when a series of murder incidents involving the Congress and the Telugu Desam activists rocked the town prompting the police to impose Section 144 to bring the situation under control.
Congress leader and Chalavemula former Sarpanch Obul Reddy, who was grievously injured in an rival attack this morning, was succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.
The rivals attacked him savagely with hunting sickles on main road of Tadipatri. Obulreddy was a well-known faction leader in the Anantapur region. He has so far survived more than a dozen attacks on him. The attack is said to be the handwork of Subbareddy and his followers.
The rivalry between Subbareddy and Obulreddy dates back to over three decades. Recently Obulreddy and Subbareddy reached a truce agreement.
In another incident, Telugu Desam party leader Kakarla Rangaiah was murdered near Vijaya Bar in Tadipatri. Kakarla Rangaiah, who hails from Hussainapuram, was recently joined TDP from Congress.
Police said that the situation in the village was under control and a police picket would be posted. It is suspected that faction feuds could be the cause for the murder.
During the past few years, factional violence in this district has been under control due to stepped up vigilance by police and ‘counselling’ of the factionists. However, factionalism raised its head in the recently held Assembly elections where activists of both parties clashed over a petty issue.