Pumped 4 bullets into him: Telangana Congress leader Marelli Anil ambushed; gunned down in SUV

HYDERABAD: In a chilling incident initially mistaken for a road accident, a Congress leader belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC) community was shot dead on Monday night while travelling in a luxury SUV at Kulcharam in Medak district.Police officers later confirmed that the victim, identified as Marelli Anil, secretary of the Medak Congress SC cell, died of bullet wounds after being ambushed by assailants in two other cars and fired upon by unidentified assailants.The incident occurred around 9 pm when Anil was returning to his village after attending a meeting at Gandhi Bhavan, the Congress party headquarters in Hyderabad. Anil's Mercedes-Benz SUV was found off the road, crashed into a nearby farmland.

Locals, believing it to be an accident, alerted the police and helped shift Anil to a nearby hospital, where he was declared brought dead. However, doctors discovered bullet injuries on his shoulder and immediately informed the Medak rural police.Police said Anil sustained four bullet wounds. CCTV footage collected from nearby areas showed visuals indicating that his SUV was being tailed by two cars. Investigators believe the attackers executed a well-planned ambush - one car overtook and stopped Anil's SUV while the second trailed close behind.

"One of the two men in the lead car got down and approached the SUV. As the victim was speaking to the driver of the other car, the attacker suddenly opened fire through the window," police said. Anil, in an apparent attempt to escape, may have hit the accelerator, causing the vehicle to veer off the road and crash into the agriculture field.Following the shooting, the assailant jumped into the second car and fled, while the first car sped away.

Bullet residue was recovered from the vehicle after police inspected the crime scene. Political and financial angles under lens in Medak murderPreliminary investigation revealed that Anil was a real estate businessman dealing in land and was also a moneylender.He had been embroiled in several disputes.One of the disputes reportedly involved a person with close links to an MLA from Kadapa.Police are probing whether the SUV Anil was driving was itself under dispute.The vehicle is registered in the name of one Venkat Sagar. Investigators are trying to determine why it was in Anil’s possession at the time of the murder. Officials said multiple angles, including political and financial rivalries, are being examined as part of the ongoing investigation.