Sai Reddy

Sai Reddy (ca. 1962 – 6 December 2013) was an Indian journalist for the Hindi-language newspaper Deshandhu. He was murdered by the Maoists near a market in Basaguda, Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh. Both the Maoists and police were suspicious of Reddy's allegiance to the other side. Maoists believed he was assisting police to dislodge the Communist Party of India. The police arrested him for having close ties with the communists. Some journalists believed that Reddy was killed by other farmers. He was known for playing an active role in the people's movement in Basaguda over the last few decades.

Sai Reddy was murdered by 4 or more men after leaving the market in Basguda on 6 December 2013. The cause of death was from head and neck injuries that were caused by stabbing and beating. The attack occurred during the afternoon in front of witnesses. The attackers used sharp-edged weapons on Reddy when they attacked him, and he died en route to the hospital. Reddy had been receiving threats from the Maoists for some time. The Maoists officially took responsibility more than a month after the Reddy's murder. His troubles with the Maoists went back as far as 2008 when they torched his house.

Sai Reddy was one of at least eight Indian journalists who were killed during 2013. The level of violence against journalists in 2013 in India surpassed the previous high level of violence reached in 1997 when seven were killed. Nemi Chand Jain was also killed in Chhattisgarh in February 2013. According to news reports, Jain was killed by the Maoists and the group confirmed it, which makes Reddy the second journalist killed by the Maoist in 2013. He was one of 70 journalists killed worldwide in 2013. Forbidden Stories named Sai Reddy as 1 of 13 reporters investigating environmental issues that were killed between 2009 and 2019.

Reddy's writings on the Naxal violence in the region gained him unwanted attention, and he was known to have angered the security forces, the anti-Maoist group Salwa Judum, and the Maoists. Tribal families in the Chhattisgarh area were subjected to violence during the insurgent conflict with the Indian authorities. Reddy was held by security in 1998 under the Essential Commodities Act and again in 2008 for suspected relationships with the Maoists. Around 2008, Reddy fled Chhattisgarh after his house was destroyed by fire and the police had arrested him, and returned later after apologising to the Moaists.

Sai Reddy was born in 1962 and was from in Basuguda, an area hit hard by the insurgent Naxalites. Reddy was held by security in 1998 under the Essential Commodities Act and again in 2008 for suspected relationships with the Maoists. Many rural journalists supplement their incomes by selling agricultural products while also working as journalists, and Reddy also used this method to supplement his salary. His wife had a shop. He was living in Bijapur at the time he returned home.