Hyderabad: Terming the death of former Speaker of Andhra Pradesh, Kodela Siva Prasada Rao, who allegedly committed suicide, as "murder," TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday demanded a CBI investigation into the circumstances leading to the incident.
Blaming the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government for the death of Rao, Naidu said, "I have seen 11 chief ministers in my career and I myself have held the post for so many years. I have never seen such a chief minister (Jaganmohan Reddy). This (suicide) is nothing but murder by the government. The entire case has to be investigated by the CBI. Intellectuals in this country should debate on the government's attitude," he told reporters here.
Based on eye-witness accounts, Rao was suspected to have committed suicide. The 72-year old leader was last month slapped with a criminal case by the Andhra Pradesh police for alleged illegal possession of furniture of the assembly.
The ruling YSR Congress in AP had dubbed Kodela a 'thief' who stole the Legislature property, a charge denied by him.
Hitting out at the AP government, Naidu said, 19 "baseless and unfounded" cases including some related to extortion and breach of trust were foisted against the family members of the departed leader, violating Supreme Court guidelines, which mandates an inquiry before filing such cases.
According to Naidu, the furniture missing case filed against the former speaker was "petty" in nature and the Guntur police booked a case under Section 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant ).
