Naidu and his friend Puttaraju had gone to an eatery, where a gang of eight men reportedly attacked him with a sickle and a knife. He suffered 12 stab injuries on his back, chest and hands.
Profusely bleeding, he was immediately admitted to the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) and was later shifted to St John’s Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries around 12:30 am.
Police said they suspected Naidu’s rival Shankar and his gang from Cottonpet to be involved in the incident. They have registered a case and are on the look-out for the suspects.
Naidu was reportedly a close associate of ‘Deadly’ Soma, one of the City’s most notorious underworld dons, who was killed in a police encounter in 1994. Naidu was wanted in 12 cases of cheating and extortion.
After Soma was killed, he married Soma’s widow, Jayashree. He was involved in some finance and real estate business and had announced last year that he would severe his links with the underworld in 2009. Naidu, a JD(S) worker was also known to be keen on contesting the upcoming BBMP elections. A post-mortem was conducted at the Victoria Hospital and the body was cremated in the afternoon, according to police.
Published 27 January 2010, 18:42 IST