HYDERABAD, India, 10 February 2007 — Three people were killed yesterday when the bodyguard of a former Congress party legislator and a group of gunmen clashed. C.K. Jayachandra Reddy, alias C.K. Babu, the former legislator, was unhurt in the attack in Chittoor town, but his bodyguard, a municipal employee and one of the attackers were killed.
Jayachandra Reddy, 54, is a close associate of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
The attackers barged into the house of Jayachandra Reddy while the legislator was having breakfast and opened fire. The bodyguard of Reddy and the visiting municipal employee were injured in the firing, but the guard managed to kill one of the intruders. The guard, Hussain Basha, 31, and the civic employee, Navarasu, 40, were taken to a hospital where they died. The attacker could not be immediately identified.
Chittoor’s Deputy Superintendent of Police Charu Sinha said the police have cordoned off the crime scene and are investigating. Prohibitory orders have been put into force in the town and police reinforcements sought from the temple town of Tirupati, 70 km away.
As tension prevailed in the town, all shops and establishments closed for the day.
