AP: Security beefed up for babus after Naxals shoot down MLA, TDP leader

Police personnel had to run for cover after mob violence broke out in the evening.

Visuals from the spot where TDP leaders Kidari Sarveswara Rao & Siveri Soma were shot dead by Naxals (ANI photo)

Amaravati: Following the assassination of two Telegu Desam Party (TDP) leaders Sunday and subsequent violence that broke out in the evening, security has been beefed up for all public representatives in the Andhra Pradesh.

"Public representatives are requested to provide necessary advance information to the respective district Superintendent of Police and take adequate security cover," a release from the state police headquarters state. It requested all representatives not to visit interior areas without informing the police.

High alert has been issued in the area, after violence that broke out in the evening. A thatched roof shed in the Dumbriguda police station was set afire while the furniture was also damaged. Several seized two-wheelers lying in the police station were also burnt even as the protestors also attacked the police personnel on duty.

Unable to face the furious mob, police personnel had to run for cover. A constable was injured in the mob violence, police sources said.

Additional police forces were rushed to Araku to restore peace even as arrangements were made in the valley for the post-mortem of the deceased.

Araku Valley MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma were shot dead by the outlawed CPI (Maosit). 

Rao, 45, and his party colleague and former MLA Soma, 52, were attacked near Thutangi village, about 125 km from the coastal city of Visakhapatnam.

The duo were returning from a programme at a village in Araku, a tribal area. The leaders were intercepted by a large group of armed Naxals, including women, while they were returning in two vehicles.

After ordering others to leave, they began talking to the MLA and the former MLA about the mining in agency areas. They later pumped bullets into the two leaders, killing them on the spot. Both were shot in the head and chest. 

Both Rao and Soma had received threats from Maoists in the past, said police.

Expressing shock over the incident, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu termed the killing of the legislator and his predecessor as a "blot on humanity".

Police surveillance and combing operations have been intensified in the area where Maoists have their presence.