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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, SEPT 4: A senior IPS officer, Chadalawada Umesh Chandra (33), his driver and gunman were shot dead by suspected People's War Group activists at Sanjeevareddy Nagar in the heart of the city this morning.
An Assistant Inspector General of Police (Welfare and Sports), he was proceeding to office in a Maruti van when the assailants pumped bullets at point blank range. He was declared dead on being brought to the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences. City Police Commissioner S R Sukumara said around five persons followed the police officer's vehicle from his house at Kalyannagar. The IPS officer's van, which stopped at the traffic junction at 11.05 am, was about to move after the green signal flashed when the attackers who parked the vehicles on the roadside, ran up to the car and opened fire from both directions.
The State Government has announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to those providing information about the assailants, the Commissioner said.
All shops in the area were closed immediately afterthe killing and no one was prepared to speak about the incident.
Going by the scene at the crime spot and the information provided by the police, two of the assailants first disabled gunman Ramachandra Reddy and driver Satyanarayana by firing at them simultaneously from point blank range. Even before Umesh Chandra could guess what was happening, two others fired at him from the right side. This was evident from the shattered windscreen of the vehicle on the right.
Sukumara said that the extremists opened not less than 15 rounds of fire, apparently from small weapons (.9 mm).
Even after he suffered bullet injuries, Umesh opened the door and ran for cover. But he was chased and fired at again. When he collapsed a few yards away from the vehicle, the assailants shot at him again from close range before fleeing. He received five bullet injuries in the abdomen, neck and temple, causing instantaneous death.
Umesh, who belongs to the 1990 batch, worked as SP of the Naxalite-affected Karimnagar district andthe faction-ridden Cuddapah district, and was known to have contained the extremist activity. Several Naxalites were killed in ``encounters'' during his tenure in Karimnagar.
The Commissioner said that the assailants escaped in two waiting autorickshaws in different directions. Police sounded an alert in the city and all exit points were sealed immediately after the incident. Vehicles, particularly autos, were thoroughly checked.
Umesh is survived by his aged parents, wife Rani and a 4-year-old son Bharat. An hour before Umesh left for office, Rani took the child to the school located at Kondapur and came to know about her husband's killing only around 2.30 pm. The officer's family went through some anxious moments as they could not locate Rani till 2.15 pm.
Eyewitnesses said that two assailants went towards Moosapet while the others moved in the direction of Vengalraonagar Colony. A dog squad which was pressed into service went a few hundred yards towards Moosapet, but lost scent after that. Policerecovered 15 empty cartridges, apparently fired from pistols.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and DGP H J Dora visited the spot and later paid tributes to the slain officer at the NIMS.
According to highly-placed sources in the Intelligence Department, the threat perception to Umesh was down-graded recently, for reasons not known. While the slain gunman was from Cuddapah, the other gunman, Balaraju, belonged to the Warangal district police and went to his native place as he was suffering from jaundice.
Additional Commissioner K Aravind Rao said that Umesh was provided `Y' category security and accordingly, five armed personnel were posted at his residence for guard duty.
On a request from Umesh's father, the body was shifted to his house from NIMS without conducting an autopsy. The final rites are likely to be performed day after tomorrow, as Umesh's brother and sister, who stay at Singapore and USA respectively, are expected. The investigation was handed over to the detective wing of the citypolice. DCP S Prabhakar Reddy is to lead the team.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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