Crime and punishment

Around 11:45 a.m. connected November 17, 2015, 2 burqa-clad individuals barged into the enclosure of Chittoor Municipal Corporation Mayor Katari Anuradha arsenic she was discussing corp files with her hubby and elder Telugu Desam Party (TDP) person Katari Mohan. Beneath the veils lurked killers equipped with firearms and machetes. Before the unit could recognize what was going on, a gunshot thundered done the corridors.

Mayor Anuradha collapsed, her humor pooling astir her seat and splattering the walls. Mohan tried to fly successful a hopeless effort to prevention his life, a volley of bullets and machete blows pursuing him. He entered the league hallway and was astir to exit done the different extremity erstwhile helium tripped connected the carpet, and a fatal hack fell connected his neck, conscionable beneath his medulla oblongata. A fewer much hacks, and it was each over.

Chittoor’s archetypal pistillate Mayor and her lieutenant laic lifeless — victims of 1 of the astir brutal governmental murders successful Andhra Pradesh’s caller memory. Outside, panic engulfed the compound. The masked assailants pushed into a waiting car with its motor running. The waiting public, galore holding grievance petitions, caught a glimpse of the unfolding fearfulness and the blur of a car speeding away. Before the constabulary could scope the country amidst deafening sirens, the killers had vanished into the maze of agrarian roads on the Chittoor–Karnataka border.

The midday treble execution soon spun a communicative of revenge, greed, and betrayal — an intrigue that stormed the corridors of power, reviving fearfulness crossed the Chittoor Municipal Corporation limits aft a little lull. At the centre of it stood 1 man: Sriram Chandrasekhar, alias “Chintu”, the nephew of Mohan and erstwhile the trusted bodyguard of the slain couple.

A communicative of loyalty, betrayal and revenge

Long earlier bullets rang done the Mayor’s chamber, Chintu was a acquainted look successful Chittoor’s governmental circles. He was known for his confidence, powerfulness and connections. He was the antheral who “settled” issues of each kind, from household feuds to onshore and fiscal disputes. His bureau successful Ganganapalle, nether changeless integer surveillance, drew crowds of petitioners and aggrieved parties.

Before becoming the Katari family’s shadiness done Chittoor’s dusty streets, Chintu had studied successful subject institutions and worked overseas arsenic a marine engineer, travelling crossed the Gulf and Southeast Asia. Returning to Chittoor successful 2004, helium was determined to go a governmental influencer. When his uncle Mohan entered authorities with the TDP, Chintu recovered his footing. Together, the “Mama–Alludu” (uncle–nephew) duo traversed Chittoor’s turbulent governmental landscape, symbolising loyalty and shared ambition. In 2006 and 2007, Chintu was adjacent accused successful 3 cases of attempting to execution erstwhile MLA C.K. Babu, Mohan’s rival.

But ambition is often a double-edged sword. Over time, Chintu overshadowed Mohan’s charisma and section influence. When Anuradha became Mayor, Chintu expected reward and designation — but was alternatively “sidelined,” arsenic galore successful Chittoor believed. The Katari household distanced themselves from the antheral who had erstwhile fought their battles.

Receiving snub aft snub, Chintu’s humiliation simmered into rage. Soon, helium began openly voicing his grievances to his followers, distant from the Katari circle. He believed that with their newfound power, the Katari mates had turned a unsighted oculus to his sacrifices. “I built an empire for the Kataris with my life. But they are retired to erase my trace,” a retired constabulary officer, who wished to beryllium anonymous, recalled Chintu arsenic saying. By 2015, his wounded pridefulness had fermented into burning hatred and vengeance.

Months earlier the treble murder, Chintu softly assembled a web of hired killers from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Their meetings took spot successful lodges, farmhouses and tourer spots similar Ooty, Kodaikanal, and Goa — each gathering earning the hitmen currency rewards.

Sources accidental each the recruits had antecedently worked with, oregon for, Katari Mohan. Chintu offered them money, extortion and governmental backing. By deploying “insiders,” helium perfected his conspiracy. Police aboriginal named 18 others for providing logistics, shelter, and different support.

Weeks earlier the murders, the killers conducted reconnaissance — watching the Mayor’s routine, mapping the bureau layout and readying introduction and flight points. Weapons were procured: a country-made pistol, machetes, hunting knives and a car with a fake fig plate. Burqas and scarves were sourced locally, connected the pretext of donation to a mediocre family. An 80-year-old arms trader from Chintamani successful Karnataka supplied Chintu with ammunition.

A time oregon 2 earlier the killings, Chintu convened a last gathering astatine a rented hideout adjacent Chittoor. His bid was acold and brief: “Finish them both. Quick. Be cleanable and vanish.” Despite forming a deed squad, Chintu insisted connected carrying retired the murders himself. On the fateful morning, minutes aft the Mayor and her hubby entered their chamber, the execution was complete.

The aftermath

The carnage shocked Chittoor. Police secured the country and recovered the archetypal grounds — slug shells, a blood-stained portion of burqa and shattered glass. Eyewitnesses spoke of a achromatic car racing toward the Bengaluru National Highway. CCTV camera footage confirmed the getaway, triggering a monolithic interstate manhunt. Catching Chintu would beryllium impossible, immoderate speculated. “As a mariner, helium knows the seas and ports and could flight done a gulf oregon strait” 1 of his followers had reportedly told investigators then.

The past Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu ordered the enactment of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) nether Superintendent of Police Gattamaneni Srinivas. The SIT tracked telephone data, CCTV footage and postulation routes, tracing telephone pings that matched the killers’ flight path. Within days, a important pb emerged — a mobile fig linked to Chintu.

Interstate raids followed crossed Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Two suspects were arrested adjacent Kuppam, adjacent to the border, and their confessions opened caller leads. Raids astatine Hosur successful Krishnagiri territory of Tamil Nadu unearthed firearms and mobile phones. On November 30, 2015 — thirteen days aft the murders — Chintu surrendered earlier the Chittoor court. Between November 16 and December 28, 2015, the constabulary arrested 20 accused, and 2 much successful aboriginal 2016.

The constabulary named 5 persons successful the chargesheet: Chintu, Venkata Chalapathi (Mulbagal Venkatesh), Jayaprakash Reddy, Manjunath and Venkatesh (Venkatesu) (A1 to A5 successful that order). It was Chintu who changeable and killed the Mayor with the country-made pistol. Mulbagal Venkatesh fired astatine Mohan arsenic helium tried to flee, and Jayaprakash Reddy and Manjunath chased aft him and hacked Mohan arsenic helium fell adjacent the doorway. According to the chargesheet, Jayaprakash Reddy slashed Mohan’s shoulders and arms portion Manjunath blocked the corridor, preventing the unit from intervening. The assailants past pulled disconnected their burqas and escaped utilizing the transport arranged outside.

For 8 years, the lawsuit coiled its mode done the Chittoor District Sessions Court. The prosecution argued that it was not a transgression of impulse but a calculated governmental execution. Over 180 witnesses testified — municipal staff, forensic experts and visitors who had seen the masked killers. Ballistic tests matched bullets to the seized weapons, forensic reports confirmed incriminating grounds and CCTV camera footage traced the escape.

Of the 23 accused, 1 was dropped owed to a deficiency of evidence, and different died during trial. Sixteen were acquitted for privation of proof. Despite Chintu’s lawyers’ claims of conspiracy and insufficient evidence, the prosecution’s lawsuit was watertight. The tribunal held A1 to A5 blameworthy of murder, transgression conspiracy and unlawful assembly. On October 30, 2025,the Sessions Court declared the lawsuit arsenic 1 of the “rarest of rare” and sentenced the 5 men to decease by hanging. Chintu showed nary emotion arsenic the verdict was read. Outside, supporters of the slain mates hailed the judgment.

A decennary later, the treble execution remains etched successful Chittoor’s representation — a reminder of however authorities tin devour its own. A framed and garlanded representation of Mayor Katari Anuradha present hangs wrong the Corporation office.

For the police, the lawsuit became a exemplary of meticulous probe and interstate coordination — praised for its velocity and precision. “We chased shadows crossed 3 States, but justness was worthy the wait,” recalls an serviceman from the SIT connected the information of anonymity.

For the radical of Chittoor, Chintu remains a tragic survey successful self-destruction: a marine engineer-turned-political enforcer who fell to his ain ambition and vengeance.

“The incidental instilled fearfulness among the wide public. As the substance present stands referred to the Andhra PradeshHigh Court for confirmation, it remains to beryllium seen whether the condemnation and condemnation volition beryllium upheld,” says Nallari Dwarakanath Reddy, chairperson, Andhra Pradesh Bar Council.