Jangaon: Land dispute ends in murder

Jangaon: The Jangaon town woke up to a brutal murder on Thursday. Puli Swamy (52), a former Councillor of Telugu Desam Party (TDP), was brutally murdered near Social Welfare School at around 6.10 am.

The police swung into action and arrested the accused – Gaddam Nikhil and Praveen Kumar alias Hrithik, of Dharmakancha in the town.

According to police, there has been a longstanding land dispute between Swamy and Gaddam Narasimha family. Both the families were at loggerheads in a civil court here for the ownership of 2.30 acres located near Yashwanthapur for the last 25 years. Narasimha died some time ago, however, the dispute continued between the two families.

Against this backdrop, the court gave judgment in favour of Swamy on Wednesday. Furious over it, Nikhil and Praveen had waylaid near the social welfare school to attack Swamy.

The duo, who came on a bike, hit Swamy with the vehicle and axed him to death. They fled from the scene leaving their bike on the spot. It's learnt that the vehicle failed to start thus forcing the duo to run from the spot.

Morning walkers spotted Swamy lying in a pool of blood and informed the police. Speaking to media persons, West Zone Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) B Sreenivas Reddy said that within a couple of hours they managed to arrest Nikhil and Praveen. The police shifted the body to District Government Hospital in Jangaon for post-mortem. Swamy had earlier served as 12th ward Councillor.