Man With AK-47 Tried to Kidnap Top Hyderabad Executive

A man armed with an AK-47 tried to kidnap a top industrialist in Hyderabad from his car this morning.

K Nityananda Reddy, Vice Chairman of Aurobindo Pharma, had finished a morning walk at 7 am in the popular KBR Park in the city’s fancy Banjara Hills area. After he sat in his car, a man pushed his way into the white Audi. Mr Reddy’s brother, Prasad, saw his brother wrestling with the intruder and rushed to the car to intervene. At least three bullets were fired inside the car; nobody was injured.

Eyewitnesses said all three men then emerged from the car. Prasad Reddy held the attacker from behind, but he bit Mr Reddy and ran away. Nobody was injured. The attacker escaped, leaving behind his AK-47 and a bag with clothes.

“Suddenly this man came and threatened me with the gun… I shouted for help and my brother tried to catch him. We grappled with this person and some shots were fired,” Mr Reddy told reporters.

“The weapon was left behind. We have identified that this is a weapon which was lost by the Greyhounds (elite commando force in Andhra Pradesh) for sometime before,” said Hyderabad Police Commissioner Mahendar Reddy.

Aurobindo Pharma is a India’s fourth biggest drugmaker by market value. Mr Reddy is its whole-time director and vice chairman and has been associated with the company as a promoter. He supervises the overall affairs of the company.