Reliance outlets in AP attacked after report on YSR death

A number of Reliance Retail outlets in Andhra Pradesh today came under simultaneous mob attack after a news report on some Telugu channels alleged the role of the Ambani brothers in the sudden death of former chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy in a chopper crash last year.

Reliance Retail is a subsidiary of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

The incident occurred after 7 pm when a local television channel started airing that a Russian web magazine, The Exiled, had speculated that there could be a conspiracy behind Reddy's death, as he had stressed that the gas find by RIL in the Krishna-Godavari basin was a national asset and the Ambani brothers, including their mother Kokilaben, had no right to distribute it between them.

As the report was immediately picked up by other television channels, people fanned out across the state and vented their anger on the Reliance Retail outlets. Congress activists have also called for a bandh in several parts of the state on Friday.

The government had asked the Central Bureau Investigation (CBI) to probe the circumstances leading to the death of Reddy. The CBI is yet to conclude its investigations.