Congress legislator C K Jayachandra Reddy, alias C K Babu, has been arrested for allegedly torching a youth to death near Chittoor town on Saturday night.

"The police took him into custody for interrogation on Sunday morning," Chittoor district Superintendent of Police Navin Chand said over phone.

According to the police, the incident occurred between 8 and 10 pm on Saturday night as a sequel to a quarrel between the MLA's nephew Sudip and another youth Ravi Shankar Chowdhary, son of District TDP Mahila Morcha vice-president Rajeshwari.

Ravi Shankar hit Sudip with an empty soft drink bottle in the altercation over a petty issue.

The injured Sudip complained to C K Babu, who headed for a hardware shop run by Rajeshwari.

Not finding Ravi Shankar there, he caused damage to the shop.

He finally found Ravi Shankar at his house, in the company of some friends.

C K Babu took the youth away saying he wanted to speak to him.

On reaching Kalipakkam Road, about 20km from Chittoor town, the MLA allegedly poured kerosene on the youth and torched him.

On Sunday morning, Ravi Shankar's half-burnt body was found near the highway.

Following a complaint by the victim's family, the police registered a case of abduction and murder against the Congress MLA and arrested him from his house in Chittoor town.

After an inquest, the victim's body was shifted to the district headquarters hospital for a post-mortem.

Tension prevailed in Chittoor during Ravi Shankar's funeral procession even as a bandh called by the ruling Telugu Desam Party remained by and large peaceful, police said.

Top police officials, including Rayalaseema Inspector General G A Sivanarayan, were camping in the area to monitor the situation.

With inputs from PTI

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