He survived 12 attempts on his life. So Kapatrala Venkatappa Naidu, TDP leader and factionist, knew what he was doing when he got into his Tata Sumo on the morning of May 17—he had to reach the local court in Kurnool where he had to file a petition seeking additional security for himself. But as his car neared Bodepadu village on the Devenakonda-Kodumuru road, Naidu was waylaid and hacked to death along with eight of his supporters. The thirteenth attack proved fatal.The 65-year-old Naidu believed in strong community relations. TDP leaders say he used to proudly show off the scars on body—the result of bloody feuds with political rivals in the last four decades—as if they were his trophies. Last week, Naidu died by the sword he lived by. A truck rammed the Tata Sumo in which he was traveling, after which crude bombs were hurled to immobilise the vehicle and kill the driver. Then, the attackers pulled out an injured Naidu and six others and hacked them to death with sickles and iron rods. Naidu, who belongs to the Boya community, was at feud with other communities.This bad blood began when he was barely 28. He became head of Kapatrala village in Kurnool district and started rubbing shoulders with TDP leader Krishna Murthy. His political rivals, aware of his growing influence and popularity, sided with former congress chief minister Vijay Bhaskhar Reddy.In the four decades of bitter communal battles that Naidu has led, over 200 people have been killed on both sides. Naidu survived a near fatal attack when his rivals left him for dead in a field but a friend rescued him.According to Naidu’s admirers in the TDP, he had an uncanny ability to sense danger and that is what helped him survive several attempts on his life. In 1980, in a well-planned attack by his rivals, his house was surrounded and bombs hurled in. But Naidu escaped and his men killed about half a dozen of the attackers right in front of his house. Two of his worst enemies, Muni Ranga and Y.V. Kista, were killed in police encounters and another, Ranga Naidu, was murdered by Naidu’s men in 1998. But it was his rivalry with another faction leader, Maduleti Naidu, that led to some of the bloodiest disputes and finally claimed Venkatappa Naidu’s life on the afternoon of May 17.On Tuesday, Maduleti Naidu, the prime accused in Naidu’s murder, surrendered before Kurnool deputy SP S. Ramnath. Maduleti Naidu, however, told police that he was not involved in the murder but was surrendering because the police were harassing his family and relatives.
