Police seek custody of person who attempted to kill AP minister

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district police are seeking custody of Baduku Nageshwar Rao, who allegedly attempted to murder Transport Minister Perni Venkatramaiah on Sunday, for further investigation.

"We are asking for police custody for five days and the matter is with the court now. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the Court will give a judgment with regard to police custody," Krishna district superintendent of police M. Ravindranath Babu told IANS.

He said a thorough interrogation is needed in this case and not much could be divulged at this stage.

However, he confirmed that Rao was a sympathizer of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) for nearly 20 years.

"His (Rao's) sister is a district mahila wing president (in TDP). He is also a sympathiser of TDP for the last 15 - 20 years. But he does not have any post (in the party)," said Babu.

The SP said Rao's family members are followers of TDP which is the principal opposition party in the southern state.

On Sunday, Rao was arrested on charges of attempt to murder Venkatramaiah at the minister's mother's memorial service, who recently passed away.

On that day, Rao came to meet Venkatramaiah but whipped out a trowel to attack him but failed to hurt him.

He was later immobilised by the people near the minister.

The alleged attempt on the minister's life comes a few months after one of his close followers was murdered in Machilipatnam, leading to the arrest of former TDP minister Kollu Ravindra.

Meanwhile, police tightened security at Venkatramaiah's residence.