Kidnap attempt on Aurobindo Pharma's vice chairman Reddy foiled

No one injured in the attack; attacker leaves behind AK-47

An unidentified man attempted to abduct Aurobindo Pharma’s vice-chairman, K Nityananda Reddy, in the upmarket Banjara Hills area of this city on Wednesday morning.

After finishing his morning walk  around 7.15 am at the 400-acre Kasu Brahmananda Reddy (KBR) Park, located between Banjara and Jubilee Hills, he’d got into the driving seat of his car, when an unidentified man got into the side seat and pointed an AK-47 gun at his stomach.

The intruder warned Reddy to keep quiet. Reddy said he told the intruder he’d give “whatever money you want”.

At the same time, he caught the barrel of the gun and pushed it up; simultaneously, opened the car door  and started shouting. His brother, Prasad Reddy, who also goes to the KBR Park regularly for a walk, rushed to his aid on hearing the shouts. Prasad Reddy caught the intruder from the back. As they both struggled with him, the gun went off in the air. “A finger could have touched the trigger in the melee,” said commissioner of police, Mahender Reddy.  The bullets pierced the windscreen of the car.

The attacker panicked at the unexpected developments, bit Prasad Reddy’s hand to free himself from the latter’s grip and ran away, leaving the weapon and a bag behind.

The police commissioner said the AK-47 belonged to the Greyhounds, an elite commando force of the state police, created to combat leftwing extremists.

The gun was stolen last year and the police were “not aware in whose hands it is now”.

 

The damaged windshield of Aurobindo Pharma vice chairman, K Nityananda Reddy's car (pic: K Sudheer)

Nityananda Reddy said he had no enmity with anyone. The police said there was no evidence of Naxalites’ role in the incident.

The commissioner expressed confidence that the case would be solved soon.

The police recovered eight empty shells from the site and brought sniffer dogs to track the culprit.

Aurobindo Pharma was in the news recently when it emerged as the highest bidder to buy US-based nutritional supplement Natrol Inc for a little over Rs 800 crore.

The company scrip on the BSE declined to Rs 1,123.65 on Wednesday, down 1.6 per cent over the previous day’s close of Rs  1,142.30.