City TDP leader found dead in Vijayawada hotel

VIJAYAWADA: Madira Educational Institutions chairman and Telugu Desam leader Madira Brahma Reddy (55) was found dead in a hotel room here on Friday.Governorpet police believe that Reddy committed suicide by consuming pesticide.Reddy, a native of Kodad in Nalgonda district and resident at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad for several years, arrived in the on Wednesday.After checking into Room No. 505 at 9.50 pm the same evening, he did not open the doors till the morning of Friday when the hotel staff grew suspicious and informed the police. Police broke open the door of the hotel room and found Reddy lying dead. A couple of pesticide bottles of 500 ml were found near the body. One bottle was empty, giving rise to the suspicion that he might have consumed the pesticide to kill himself.Hotel staff said Reddy had no companions and had checked into the room alone.Meanwhile, Reddy’s family members lodged a complaint with the Jubilee Hills police station on May 26 that Reddy was missing. According to them, Reddy left home on the morning of May 25 by his car. As his car was found parked in the parking lot of the Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station (MGBS) in Hyderabad, police presumed that Reddy might have taken a bus from Hyderabad to Vijayawada.The family members claimed that Reddy had carried Rs 50,000 in cash with him but the police said they had found less than Rs 1,000 on Reddy’s person in the hotel.After leaving home, Reddy responded only to his daughter’s phone call once at 1 pm on May 25. When the family tried to contact him subsequently, they found his cell phone switched off. Suspecting something wrong they lodged a complaint of missing with the Jubilee hills Police station on May 26.Governorpet sub-inspector of police SA Rawoof said that they had initially registered a case of `death under suspicious conditions’ and sent the body for post mortem.The cause of death would be known only after the receipt of the forensic report, he said. Circle inspector Jayaraj visited the hotel room and interrogated the hotel staff as part of the investigation.