was a political leader in Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh.

He started as a
communist in the foot steps of his father and later entered electoral politics by joining
Telugu Desam party. He was elected four times as Member of Legislative assembly to
the state of Andhra Pradesh from Penukonda constituency in Anantapur district. He was
slain by his political rivals in 2005 . He was one of the most controversial people in the
history of Andhra Pradesh politics.

Contents
[hide]

• 1 Early life
• 2 Entry into Factionism
• 3 Violence in politics
• 4 Re-Organising Committee (R.O.C)
• 5 Post-2004 Elections

[edit] Early life

After losing his father and brother, Ravi wanted to take shelter to protect himself from his
rivals. He went to his maternal uncle, Kondaiah, in Seerpi Kottaala village of Uravakonda
constituency to take shelter. He married Suneetha in 1986 and took up cultivation.
According to many allegations Ravi was responsible for the deaths of Gangula Narayana
Reddy, Narsanna and Yaadi Reddy (1982-83).

[edit] Entry into Factionism

After Narayana Reddy was killed, Ramachandra Reddy of Telugu Desam party became
M.L.A from Penukonda in 1983 and 1985 . In 1989 elections, congress formed the
government in the state. Sane Chenna Reddy became M.L.A of Penukonda by defeating
Ramachandra Reddy of T.D.P.

Ravi wanted to take revenge of his father's and brother's deaths. He joined hands with
communists (Naxalites) in 1991 . Naxalites also wanted to help Ravi as his father and
brother were their party leaders. Sane Chenna Reddy who was conspirator in his father's
and brother's deaths was killed in Dharmavaram in 1991. By-elections were conducted
and Ramana Reddy, son of Chenna Reddy, became M.L.A in 1991. He found granite in
his field. This was the turning point in his life. He became rich after this project, the game
started.

[edit] Violence in politics

 • In the past 15 years, 670 Congressmen and 560 TDP men have lost their lives to
factional rivalry.[1][2]

• Paritala Ravi's name figures in 54 murder cases. About 10 Congressmen are

missing and the involvement of Paritala Ravi is alleged in these cases.
• He was a faction leader whose name was linked with a number of criminal cases,
the 45-year-old Ravindra, or Ravi, had a questionable reputation.
• As news spread about the killing, TDP workers went on the rampage in several
towns and cities. They set ablaze buses of the A.P. State Road Transport
Corporation and broke the windscreens of a large number of other vehicles. They
also expressed their ire at government offices.At the end of two days of pitched
battles between the police and TDP workers, the APSRTC was poorer by nearly
Rs.20 crores. Eighty of its buses had been burnt and 576 had their windscreens
and glass panes smashed. The vandalism was the kind which TDP president N.
Chandrababu Naidu had passionately opposed when he was Chief Minister.

• Paritala Ravi was among the 51 contestants in the last State Assembly elections
named as having a criminal record by the Lok Satta, a non-partisan movement for
reforms in governance, . But Chandrababu Naidu stoutly defended Ravi's
inclusion in the TDP's list of nominees. "Many of those named by the Lok Satta
were acquitted. Values are essential in public life but there are some constraints
too," he said. [3].
• Frontline editorialised that "Paritala Ravi's murder not only showed the extent of
criminalisation of politics in Andhra Pradesh but also exposed the deterioration of
the criminal justice system."[4]<

[edit] Re-Organising Committee (R.O.C)

People's War Group (P.W.G) expelled Kondapalli Seetha Ramaiah from the party. He
split P.W.G into two. One was P.W.K.S group. Potula Suresh who shot Chenna Reddy
was an active member of this group. This group again split into two. One was "Redstar"
and other was "Re-Organising committee" (ROC). Potula Suresh was head of ROC and
Sudarshan was head of the Redstar. Redstar was favourable to Chenna Reddy's sons and
Surya Narayana Reddy. ROC worked for Ravi. There was armed struggle between these
two groups and many people were killed.

[edit] Post-2004 Elections

Telugu Desam (TDP) lost power and congress formed government in the state. From the
day three of forming the govt, i.e from May 14th onwards, killing of TDP activists started
in the Anantapur district. Ravi's houses in Anantapur and Venkatapuram were frequently
raided by the police.
Paritala Ravindra's killers had a Plan-B
29 Jan 2005, 2342 hrs IST,TNN

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HYDERABAD/ ANANTAPUR: Had Paritala Ravindra been hemmed in by his guards

last Monday, the six-man hit squad would have called off the bid on his life, M
Rekamaiah, an accused in the murder case has reportedly told police.

The assassins reportedly had a Plan-B in place and would have made an attempt on him
on Saturday. Reason: The crucial zilla parishad polls were scheduled for the day and his
killing would have had an immediate impact on the TDP morale. As per Plan-B, the
attack would have taken place in front of the Anantapur zilla parishad office, where
elections were held on Saturday and TDP lost the chairperson's post to the Congress. A
February deadline had reportedly been set for the killers.

In fact, that's why the killers got into the TDP office well before Paritala came and
watched him closely. Even when Paritala was leaving the venue, his guards hadn't formed
a ring around him. This pushed the team to go for the kill.

The police on Saturday recovered a crude rocket launcher along with a scooter bomb and
some other weapons from Kanaganapalli village, 30 km from Anantpur town. The police
suspect that these weapons were kept ready in case plan A failed. Following Rekamaiah's
grilling, police have reportedly worked out the broad contours of the murder case, which
sources say, goes like this:

POLITICS

Murder and mayhem

S. NAGESH KUMAR
in Hyderabad

The murder of a TDP legislator in Andhra Pradesh confirms the explosive nature of
the mix of criminality, caste and politics in the State.
 P.V. SIVAKUMAR

Paritala Ravi.

THE criminal element in Andhra Pradesh politics was in full view on January 24, when
hired killers gunned down the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) legislator from Penukonda,
Paritala Ravindra, in Anantapur town.

A faction leader whose name was linked with a number of criminal cases, the 45-year-old
Ravindra, or Ravi, had a questionable reputation. His opponents even alleged that he
represented all that was wrong with politics in the Rayalaseema region.

The sheer brutality of the murder, in broad daylight, and its violent aftermath shook the
people of Andhra Pradesh. The TDP voiced its fears about possible attempts by his
numerous enemies to kill him. Soon after the Congress came to power in the State in May
2004, the heavy security cover that Ravi enjoyed was scaled down. The MLA petitioned
the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ordered restoration of the 10 gunmen deployed
for his protection earlier.

The fact that Ravi was killed amid a clutch of private as well as police gunmen and a
crowd of party workers revealed the meticulous manner in which the murder had been
planned. He was waiting at the gate of the TDP district headquarters after a party meeting
to board his vehicle, at around 2-55 p.m., when two gunmen confronted him and opened
fire. Realising that he had been set up for a `hit', Ravi, who was felled by the first salvo,
shouted for help. But, the killers, who were now joined by another, pumped bullets into
his head and fled after killing an aide and a police gunman.

As news spread about the killing, TDP workers went on the rampage in several towns and
cities. They set ablaze buses of the A.P. State Road Transport Corporation and broke the
windscreens of a large number of other vehicles. They also expressed their ire at
government offices.

At the end of two days of pitched battles between the police and TDP workers, the
APSRTC was poorer by nearly Rs.20 crores. Eighty of its buses had been burnt and 576
had their windscreens and glass panes smashed. The vandalism was the kind which TDP
president N. Chandrababu Naidu had passionately opposed when he was Chief Minister.

When peace returned to the streets, Chandrababu Naidu had a hard time justifying the
arson and violence indulged in by his partymen. "It was a spontaneous outburst of
emotion," he said.

This was not the first time that large-scale violence was witnessed in Andhra Pradesh
after the slaying of an MLA. Properties worth an estimated Rs.300 crores was set ablaze
by followers of Vangaveeti Ranga, a Congress MLA and a prominent leader of the Kapu
community, who was killed while he was observing a fast in December 1988. Ravi's
killing has confirmed the explosive nature of the mix of criminality, caste and politics in
Andhra Pradesh.

RAMESH SUSARLA

APSRTC buses that were burnt or damaged in Guntur following the murder.

Paritala Ravi was among the 51 contestants in the last State Assembly elections named by
the Lok Satta, a non-partisan movement for reforms in governance, as having a criminal
record. But Chandrababu Naidu stoutly defended Ravi's inclusion in the TDP's list of
nominees. "Many of those named by the Lok Satta were acquitted. Values are essential in
public life but there are some constraints too," he said.

The killing of Paritala Ravi is part of an unending saga of revenge involving two families
belonging to rival factions and different castes. Dozens of innocent and not-so-innocent
lives have been lost in this rivalry.
A 1998 report prepared by the Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee on Paritala
Ravi, a former naxalite, says: "The entire district kneels down before him. Everyone is
afraid of him. From 1994, even the political scenario (in Anantapur district) has
undergone a change". Paritala Ravi's name was linked by the Anantapur police to
numerous murders, including that of Saane Chenna Reddy, an MLA from Penukonda,
and Ramana Reddy, a former MLA.

According to police records, an attempt was made in October 1993 to kill

Maddelacheruvu Suryanarayana Reddy alias Suri, a faction leader from Anantapur,
through a sophisticated method. A portable television set loaded with explosives was
delivered at his house while he was away. Unsuspecting members of his family switched
on the television. The explosion that resulted brought down a portion of the house, and
killed five persons, and injured four others. Paritala Ravi was named Accused No.1 in the
case.

Suri tried to take vengeance by triggering off a remote-controlled car bomb in Jubilee
Hills, Hyderabad, in 1997 but missed his target, Paritala Ravi, who was then producing a
movie called Sriramulaiah based on his father's struggle against landlords. (Ramulaiah
was hacked to death allegedly by Suri's father, Gangula Narayana Reddy, who was killed
in retaliation in 1983. Ravi was the prime accused in that case too.) Twenty-six others,
including six members of a television crew, were killed. Suri and six others were found
guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.

The TDP was quick to accuse Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's son Y.S. Jagan
Mohan Reddy, Panchayati Raj Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy, and a senior police officer
in the Rayalaseema region of conspiring to kill Ravi. The Chief Minister instantly got his
Cabinet to pass a resolution handing over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI).

But before the CBI could start investigations, one of the accused, M. Rekhamaiah,
surrendered to the Mahabubnagar police. Within a week, eight of the alleged conspirators
had surrendered. While Joolakanti Srinivasa Reddy, who claimed in a television
interview to have actually shot Paritala Ravi, was at large even on February 1, another
person who had allegedly fired at Ravi, Narayan Reddy, gave himself up to the
Anantapur police along with four others.

Paritala Ravi's murder not only showed the extent of criminalisation of politics in Andhra
Pradesh but also exposed the deterioration of the criminal justice system. Suri, who is
serving a life sentence in the Cherlapalli jail in Hyderabad, could apparently call the shots
from the confines of his cell using a mobile phone.

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2005, 2304 hrs IST, TNN

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HYDERABAD: The discussion in the state Assembly on the murder of Paritala Ravindra
remained incomplete on Friday too, with Nagam Janardhan Reddy of the TDP and V
Vasanth Kumar of the Congress trying to portray each other's party as the root cause of
faction feuds in Anantapur district.

Janardhan Reddy, who reiterated his party's demand for the dismissal of the Y S
Rajasekhara Reddy government, kicked up a storm when he said Ravindra would not
have been killed if the chief minister had asked his son Jaganmohan Reddy and Gangula
Suryanarayana Reddy (Suri) not to carry out the murder.

Targeting IGP (Rayalaseema) R P Meena, Janardhan Reddy said: "It's Meena who got the
murder done, at the behest of Jaganmohan Reddy. He should be arrested immediately."

The TDP leader contended that the state government ordered the CBI probe only after
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh intervened. He argued that in the absence of a dying
declaration from Paritala, the police ought to take the interview the slain leader had given
to a TV channel as one and arrest whoever was named in the interview.

Speaker K R Suresh Reddy objected to repeated usage of certain provocative words and
allegations against police officers by Janardhan Reddy and cautioned him to use restraint.
When the TDP member appealed to the chief minister not to turn the state into a
'Smashanandhra Pradesh' , the speaker declared that he was expunging the words from
the records.

Turning the tables on the TDP, Vasanth Kumar alleged that the likes of Paritala Ravindra,
C Krishna Yadav, P Rama Subba Reddy, Byreddy Rajasekhara Reddy and Kodela Siva
Prasada Rao, who were involved in serious criminal cases, were being shielded by the
TDP.

Vasanth Kumar alleged that Ravindra had killed eight of Suri's associates by tapping the
phone calls the latter had made from a mobile phone, which was passed on to him by
Cherlapally prison superintendent, a relative of TDP legislator P Keshav. However,
Keshav rejected the charge and said that his relative was posted only recently.

The Congress legislator claimed that Ravindra had once described Naidu as a
'mosagaadu' (cheat) who would betray any body who trusts him. Several names
mentioned by Vasanth Kumar in this context drew protests from TDP members who
stormed into the well of the House.

Panel speaker C Narsi Reddy quickly brought the situation under control by shouting at
the TDP members and sending them back to their seats.