Life term for 4 in 2018 murder of BRS leader

Hyderabad: Four persons who brutally murdered a farmer turned BRS leader, Pendyala Srinivas, at Dharur in Vikarabad district in April 2018, were awarded life sentences by the Principal District & Sessions Judge S Srinivas Reddy.The judge also imposed a fine of 1,000 on each of the convicts in the verdict pronounced on Friday. The convicts are Haridas, Krishna, Aman Kumar, and Prashanth Kumar. Three more persons involved in the murder were acquitted due to a lack of evidence against them.K Narayana Reddy, SP Vikarabad, appreciated the investigating team, court officers, and the public prosecutor for securing punishment for the killers.According to police, Srinivas and the accused persons had long-standing disputes over a land parcel at his native Mylaram village in the district.On the day of the murder, Srinivas and his friend Vinod were returning home on his Royal Enfield. Midway, near a stream, the accused waylaid them and attacked them with knives and sticks. While Srinivas was trapped, Vinod managed to escape with injuries.The court pronounced the accused guilty of the murder based on eyewitness accounts, circumstantial witnesses, and other evidence gathered during the investigation.As Srinivas just entered politics and was aspiring for the village Sarpanch post, it was widely rumoured that his political opponents killed him. However, police confirmed the land disputes to be the motive behind the murder.