Who is Gatani Raju, man who stabbed Kotha Prabhakar Reddy

Gatani Raju bio reads 'Jai Congress Mirdoddi Mandal', while more information shows his home town as Siddipet and that he studied at Alphores Junior College, Karimnagar

Hyderabad: For whatever reason he resorted to stabbing Medak MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Gatani Raju’s profile on social networking site Facebook left no ambiguity over his political leanings.

His profile picture shows him with a Congress scarf, while his cover picture is a collage of his own picture with that of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. His bio reads ‘Jai Congress Mirdoddi Mandal’, while more information shows his home town as Siddipet and that he studied at Alphores Junior College, Karimnagar. The pages he liked include ‘Anumula Revanth Reddy’.

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Though there were reports that he earlier worked as a reporter for a local news app and was currently working with a local YouTube channel, these are yet to be confirmed. His claims to be a journalist were also questioned by local BRS leaders, who said they had never seen him along with other journalists in the region for any programme.

What is clear, however, is that he was planning the attack, since he was seen near Prabhakar Reddy’s campaign vehicle on Sunday evening, and from morning on Monday, he was seen following and trying to get into the MP’s campaign vehicle till 1.30 pm, when he finally managed to get close the MP and swing his knife at him.