Ex-CM, wife narrowly escape bid on life

Hyderabad, Sep 7 (UNI) Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Janardhan Reddy, MP, and his wife and State Women and Child Welfare Minister N Rajyalakshmi, escaped from the jaws of death today, even as three people, including two Congressmen were killed in the landmine explosion triggered by CPI Maoist ultras near Vakadu village in their native Nellore district.

Targetting the former chief minister, who had slapped a ban on the Naxalites in 1992 and taken stern measures to curb insurgency, the naxalites triggerred the blast using a flash as the convoy was crossing a culvert.

The bullet-proof car of Mr Reddy sped away, while one car in the convoy was blown up. The members of the Central Action Committee of CPI(Maoist), set off the blasts killing the former chief minister's close associates Nagarjuna Reddy and Dosaiah and car driver Mallikarjun on the spot.

The assassination bid on Mr Reddy, provided with 'Z' category security, came in the wake of the Chief Minister's recent assertion that his government had kept under check naxalism' and factionalism in the state in the last three years.

The Chief Minister, who described the naxalites surprise attack as a ''desperate attempt by Maoists to regain lost ground'', reviewed the security situation with Home Minister K Jana Reddy and top police officials and decided ''in principle'' to constitute Organisation to Counter Terrorist Operations (Octopus) and strengthen the intelligence wing of the state police.

This is the second major offensive by the naxalites against a senior politician during the Rajasekhara Reddy regime after the gunning down of Congress legislator C Narsi Reddy, and eight others, including one of his sons, in Mahabubnagar district in August 2005.

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