party leaders accompanied the body.

Braving heavy rain, TDP workers paid their last respects to Siva Prasada Rao at different places as the procession entered Guntur district. The body will be kept at the TDP office in Guntur town to enable party leaders to pay homage. It will then be taken to Narsaraopet.

Police have made elaborate security arrangements in Guntur district to prevent any untoward incident. Prohibitory orders have been imposed to prevent any outbreak of violence.

Blaming the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) government for Siva Prasada Rao's death, the TDP staged protests in Guntur and other districts on Tuesday.

Holding black flags and pictures of Siva Prasada Rao, TDP workers took out rallies, raising slogans against the government. They alleged that harassment by the government forced Rao to take theextreme step.

The 72-year-old, who also served as minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh, committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Hyderabad on Monday. The family members told the police that he was under stress.

Terming this as a murder by the government, Chandrababu Naidu demanded a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He told reporters in Hyderabad that the government of Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy humiliated Siva Prasada Rao and harassed him physically, mentally and economically, leading to his death.

"Such an incident has not happened anywhere in the country. Never before a senior leader like Kodela committed suicide due to harassment by the government," said the former chief minister.

Chandrababu Naidu said Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was chargesheeted by the CBI for corruption to the tune