alleged gambler dies in lathi-charge

Tirupati: A private bus conductor, Chandraiah (42) died when a police party raided a gamblers den and used lathis to chase them at ST colony of Nandimangalam village of Puttur mandal in the district in the wee hours of Sunday. According to the villagers, a group of 25 people were playing cards in the late hours of Saturday night, On a tip off, the Puttur SI Rajasekhar along with his team rushed to the spot and pounced on them suddenly and started beating them up. While others escaped, Chandraiah could not run as he was drunk. The cops surrounded him and beat him up indiscriminately. "He was hit hard and he collapsed. When he was taken to the area Government Hospital, he was declared brought dead," the villagers said. The deceased, belonged to SC community, is survived by wife, two daughters and a son. Elder daughter Sonia is studying Class-X and preparing for annual exams. Telugu Desam leader Gali Muddukrishnama Naidu and YSR Congress Narayana Swamy and other politicians staged a protest in Puttur on the national highway on Sunday morning disrupting vehicular traffic for hours. They demanded compensation of Rs. 30 lakh to the kind of the deceased besides a government job to one of the family members.