Congress holds TRS Responsible for the killing of Damera Rakesh

By Our Special Correspondent

The Congress has blamed the state government for the killing of Damera Rakesh, a firefighter from Warangal, in a riot at the Secunderabad railway station on Friday. Speaking on the occasion of Rahul Gandhi's birthday in Hanumakonda on Sunday, Warangal DCC president N Rajender Reddy told media persons that the police had completely failed to ascertain the gravity of the situation and rushed to open fire on the protesters.

"Rakesh is a government-sponsored assassination. Moreover, TRS leaders also tried to gain political mileage at Rakesh's funeral. All TRS MPs had the opportunity to attend Rakesh's funeral.The government saw to it that the opposition leaders did not attend the funeral by using the police, "the DCC chief said.

Reddy alleged that TRS leaders had mobilized the people by paying money for the funeral. He said it was shameful to put TRS flags even on the hearse. The government is pursuing a strategy of placing opposition leaders under house arrest whenever they want. He said it would be better if the police refrained from acting as authoritative TRS agents. The state government, which has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh, has demanded an increase to Rs 1 crore.

Former MP S Rajaya has criticized the BJP-led central government for introducing fiery, short-term military recruitment. He said the scheme would weaken the Indian Army. Referring to the forthcoming Presidential elections, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao said that the BJP is doing something good. Former mayor Errabelli Swarna, Namindla Srinivas, Dommati Sambayya, Banka Sarala, Dr Puli Anil Kumar and others were present.