Hyderabad: Revenue department employees went on strike all over Telangana on Tuesday, protesting the ghastly incident of an assailant burning alive a Mandal Revenue Officer (Tahsildar) Vijaya Reddy in her office.

Staff members of the Revenue Department stayed out of their offices and held protest demonstrations with black flags even as the police took the assailant Suresh into custody. Meanwhile, Gurunadham, the driver of the slain official also died in a hospital on Tuesday.

Citizens Service Centres (Mee Sava centres) observed “shut down” condemning the ghastly murder of 37 year old lady officer and demanded stringent action against the guilty. Protest demonstrations were organized all over the state as all the political parties strongly condemned the incident.

A Revanth Reddy, Congress Member of Parliament, said that the killing of a magistrate level officer in her office shows the pathetic law and order situation in the state. After laying wreath on Vijaya Reddy’s mortal remains at her residence in Kothapet in outskirts of Hyderabad Revanth Reddy alleged that the murder was the result of encouragement from ruling party leaders. “The government itself was trying to portray the revenue employees as thieves,” he told the media. He regretted that the chief minister or any other key minister did not visit the officer’s home to pay tributes to her. He demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter.

Vijaya Reddy was burnt alive and three others including the alleged killer were badly injured when the assailant poured petrol in her office chambers in Abdullahpurmet mandla of Ranga Reddy district on Monday afternoon.

While Vijaya Reddy collapsed outside her office and died, her driver who tried to chase and catch the assailant suffered 80 per cent burns and succumbed in the hospital.

Cyberabad Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said the assailant, Suresh, also suffered 60 per cent burn injuries and was admitted to a hospital. “He is in police custody and we are waiting for his condition to improve before questioning him”, he said. “We will try to see that the case is tried in a fast track court and the guilty is awarded an exemplary punishment”.

The incident has left the people in general and the revenue department officials in particular in shock and distress and the cause behind the dastardly act had become subject of speculations and rumours.

According to the preliminary investigations by the police Suresh and his brother were the owners of 7 acres of land in Bocharam village and the dispute over the land was in High Court.

The name of a ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti MLA M. Kishan Reddy also cropped up in the case as he had allegedly promised to the local farmers to get the land ownership transferred to them if they pay Rs3 million (Dh156,576) per acre.

But what exactly caused Suresh to take the extreme step was still being probed. Suresh’s father Durgaiah said that he had a very bad tamper. “He used to beat his wife at home but we never thought he will resort to this kind of madness. We don’t have any clue,” he said.