From kin to killer: Nephew gets death penalty for decade-old murder of Chittoor’s first woman mayor, her husband

Anuradha and Mohan were shot dead inside the mayor’s chamber at the Chittoor Municipal Corporation on November 17, 2015. The killing was allegedly orchestrated by Chintu, who was upset at being sidelined. Mohan was then vice-president of the TDP’s Chittoor district unit.

Investigators said a gang armed with guns and daggers barged into the chamber and shot Anuradha, before chasing and stabbing Mohan to death nearby.

The Chittoor Police initially named 23 people in the case. One died during the trial, and another was acquitted. Of the rest, five were convicted for murder, while 16 accused of abetment were acquitted. The accused were brought to court on Friday under heavy security.

The case

In 2014, after the Telugu Desam Party came to power in the newly divided Andhra Pradesh, Anuradha became the first woman mayor of Chittoor.

Police found that Chintu, a marine engineer, felt slighted after being sidelined despite helping Anuradha’s campaign. The probe revealed a power struggle and financial disputes between the couple and Chintu, who wanted his uncle to promote him politically.

After completing marine engineering from Mumbai in 1994, Chintu joined the merchant navy and later worked for a UAE-based shipping firm. He returned to Chittoor in 2002, as Mohan rose through the TDP ranks.

Mohan had a long political rivalry with C K Jayachandra Reddy, the Congress MLA who won Chittoor four times.

In 2004, although the TDP wrested the Chittoor seat, Reddy continued to remain a strong leader. The same year, Katari Mohan contested the Chittoor municipal elections but was defeated by a close confidant of Jayachandra Reddy – further fuelling the political rivalry.

In 2006, Karnataka Police arrested Mohan and Chintu for allegedly plotting Reddy’s murder. After getting bail, Chintu allegedly hired assassins to attack Reddy again in 2007, killing two people, though Reddy survived. Another attempt that December – a landmine blast on Reddy’s convoy – killed a police constable. Mohan fled to Karnataka but was arrested in March 2008.

After being released on bail, Mohan and Chintu stayed low and ran granite, real estate and farming businesses. Mohan, who spent much of his time in Bengaluru, returned to Chittoor after Anuradha became mayor in 2014, with Chintu still by his side.

It was after Anuradha became the mayor that things began to go south.

Chintu allegedly began pressuring Anuradha to award municipal contracts to his preferred contractors and interfered in corporation affairs, according to court documents.

He reportedly clashed with municipal officers and was detained for threatening a police inspector who checked his vehicle.

As probes began into the joint sand and granite mining business, Chintu demanded a bigger share, escalating tensions that allegedly culminated in the killings.