The Andhra Pradesh High Court has granted bail to five accused in the 2005 murder case of former minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Paritala Ravindra.
The High Court on Wednesday granted bail to Narayana Reddy (accused number 3), V. Rekhamiah (A4), Bhajana Ranganayakulu (A5), A Kondiah (A6) and Medimi Obi Reddy (A8).
The accused have been granted bail after 18 years.
Former minister and TDP MLA Paritala Ravindra, also known as Paritala Ravi, was shot dead in broad daylight while coming out of the party office in Penukonda in Anantapur district on January 24, 2005.
His gunman and one of his followers were also killed in the resultant shootout. The assailants escaped from the scene as some of their associates hurled bombs, facilitating their exit.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigated into the triple murder at the instance of then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy following allegations that his son Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and a Minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy had a hand in it, but both were exonerated.
In its report, the CBI concluded that age-old family rivalry between the families of Paritala Ravi and Congress leader Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy (Maddelacheruvu Suri) led to the murder and that the latter hatched a conspiracy while he was undergoing sentence in the Jubilee Hills bomb blast case of 1997.
The investigations revealed that Joolakanti Srinivas Reddy (known as Moddu Srinu), P. Narayan Reddy, and Rekhamaiah shot Paritala Ravindra in the party office.
In August 2011, Anantapur Sessions Court convicted eight persons and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Cases against the three prime accused Suri, Moddu Srinu, and Tagarakunta Konda Reddy were abated as they were murdered in separate incidents when the case was on trial.
Moddu Srinu was assassinated in Anantapur Jail on 9 November 2008. The main accused Suri was murdered by his aide Bhanu Kiran on 4 January 2011 in Hyderabad over a property dispute.
Last month, Bhanu Kiran was released on bail.
