Accused say Nayeem involved in Patolla killing

HYDERABAD: For the first time, Hyderabad police has confirmed that renegade Maoist Nayeem played a major role in the sensational murder of Patolla Goverdhan Reddy 10 days ago in the heart of the city.
A day after the five accused — Anil, alias Nagesh, of Ram Nagar; Mammidi Prashanth Reddy of ECIL; Mohd Ahmed of Ghouse Nagar in Chandrayangutta; Edela Narender of Jagadgirigutta and Kandukuri Srinivas of Mancherial — surrendered to Task Force personnel on the outskirts of the city, Hyderabad police formally arrested them on Friday.
Briefing the media about the case, Hyderabad police commissioner AK Khan said sharing of property in a 15-acre land dispute was the motive behind the murder and added that Nayeem might have played a central role in the conspiracy. “The genesis of the murder conspiracy is the dispute between Chandra Reddy and another group made up of Karunakar Rao, Narender Reddy, Vittal Reddy, Veerabhadrudu and Venkat Ramana over 15 acres of land located in survey numbers 34, 37, 39, 43 and 75 in Uppal’s Kalsa Mandal,” Khan added.
In order to settle the land dispute, Karunakar Rao’s team approached Patolla while Chandra Reddy sought Nayeem’s assistance through his associate Sheshanna, the top cop said. During discussions, Patolla, much to the dismay of others, insisted that a major share of the settlement amount should go to his trusted friend Vittal Reddy.
Meanwhile, Anil came to know that Patolla no longer trusted him and so he might not get his expected share from the settlement. At this juncture, Nayeem’s associate Sheshanna approached Anil with a proposal to join hands with them and eliminate Patolla.
“Sheshanna even paid up to Rs 2 lakh in a few instalments to Anil to eliminate Patolla,” Khan said. Incidentally, Sheshanna, an autodriver from Mahbubnagar, is an accused, along with Nayeem, in the IPS officer Vyas murder case.