HyderabadJul 15, 2025 18:06 IST
First published on: Jul 15, 2025 at 17:33 IST
-
Share
-
Hours after Communist Party of India’s Hyderabad city leader K Chandu Rathod (47) was shot dead while on a morning walk at Shalivahana Nagar park, his wife told The Indian Express that she and their daughter narrowly missed the attack.
“My husband said he would stay back to talk to a few of his friends. My daughter and I left the park and reached home. We were just untying our shoelaces when someone informed us that he was shot,” K Nari said shortly after the incident.
She claimed that she had seen one of the accused, whom she recognised, and three others in a Swift car before the incident. “When we were going to the park, we saw (the accused) drive by in a Swift car. I informed my husband about it, but he did not pay heed to it,” Nari alleged, adding that she again spotted the car near the park. “There were three people inside, resting.”
Rathod was the CPI’s Hyderabad city council member. According to officials, the suspect named by his wife used to be a functionary of the CPI(ML) Liberation.
The motive, though, is believed to be related to real estate business rivalry. According to the Malakpet police, four assailants carried out the attack. “Five rounds were fired,” Malakpet inspector P Naresh told the Indian Express.
The attackers first threw chilli powder at Rathod’s face. “When he tried to run away from them, they gunned him down,” Naresh said. The attackers fled in the car that they arrived in before anyone at the park could apprehend them. There were 20 to 30 people at the park when the attack took place.
Rathod’s family has claimed that there was an ongoing enmity between him and the accused. “The accused was extorting money from a slum in Hyderabad. My husband opposed this,” his wife claimed.
The victim and the accused used to be friends until some years ago, she said. “We are investigating all possible angles in the case,” Naresh said. Hyderabad South East DCP S Chaitanya Kumar said, “Ten teams have been formed to trace the accused. Dog squad and forensic experts too arrived at the scene to take evidence.”
The police arrived at the crime scene within 30 minutes of the attack and secured it. When contacted, the CPI’s national leader, K Narayana, told The Indian Express, “From what we know, he was gunned down by his enemies. We don’t think this is a matter of political rivalry.” Before joining the CPI, Rathod was with the Communist Party of India (Marxist). “He was removed from the party 10 years ago,” a senior leader of the party told The Indian Express.
