Former journalist kidnapped, murdered near Hyderabad

Hyderabad, April 17:  A former journalist was kidnapped and murdered by unidentified persons on the outskirts of Hyderabad, police said on Monday.

Some unidentified men left a body at a hospital in the city's Gachibowli area at around 2 a.m.

Informed by the hospital authorities, police rushed there and identified him as Mamidi Karunakar Reddy (29), who was kidnapped on Sunday night from Kottur near Hyderabad.

According to the police, Karunakar along with his friend Sridhar Reddy were proceeding from Cheguru to Timmapur in a car.

Some unidentified men in a vehicle stopped them and after thrashing Reddy, they drove off with Karunakar.

After receipt of the information, the police launched a probe to rescue the former journalist.

The men left the body in the hospital and escaped even before authorities could get any details.

The police have registered a case and shifted the body to Osmania Hospital for autopsy. They are scanning CCTV footage at the hospital to identify those who brought the body.

Reddy alleged that relatives of Mandal level public representative of Kottur, Madhusuhan Reddy kidnapped Karunakar.

According to police, Karunakar had worked in a newspaper in the past. He later started working as a document writer near the Kottur Tehsildar office.

The victim was working with MPP Madhusudhan Reddy and his followers in their land dealings. However, he had developed differences with them recently.

Karunakar's family alleged that Madhusudhan got him murdered as he was afraid that he may expose his irregularities in land dealings.

Karunakar's relatives staged a protest at Kottur demanding immediate arrest of the accused.

On a complaint by the victim's family, police registered a case against Madhusudhan Reddy and four others and launched a hunt for them.