The Central Bureau of Investigation has begun its probe into the January 24 killing of Telugu Desam Party legislator Paritala Ravi in Anantapur town.

A team, led by Deputy Inspector General Vishwanatham and comprising 11 other officials, reached the town on Friday morning. It interacted with Anantapur DIG Jayaram Reddy, Superintendent of Police R S Praveen Kumar and state Crime Investigation Department officials.

The CBI formally took over the case on Thursday after the Centre issued a notification transferring the case from the state police to the CBI.

• TDP MLA killed in bomb attack

The state government had decided to entrust the case to the CBI a day after the sensational killing, as the slain MLA's father-in-law had named Y S Jaganmohan Reddy, son of Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, as one of the culprits in his complaint.

The CBI has stepped in at a time when the Anantapur district police and the state CID have already cracked the case after the surrender of seven suspects. The seven have reportedly confessed to their involvement in the murder plot and its execution.

All the suspects - V Rekamaiah (who provided fire cover to two sharp shooters), T Bhaskar Reddy (who sheltered the hit squad), P Narayana Reddy (one of the two main shooters in the killing), M Obul Reddy (who provided logistical support), V Konda, V Seena and V Ranganayakulu (who had helped the action team by hurling crude bombs to enable the shooters flee) - have been formally arrested and remanded in judicial custody for a fortnight.

• Rowdy owns up role, surrenders

Two other suspects � ace shooter Julakanti Srinivas Reddy and his accomplice Damodar Reddy � are still at large.

The police have also recovered four weapons � two carbines, a revolver and a pistol � from Tagarakunta village. One of the carbines was snatched from gunman Subbaiah and the pistol belonged to gunman Mahbub Basha, who was killed along with Paritala Ravi.

The other carbine and the revolver were used by the assailants. Three crude bombs were also recovered.

Preliminary investigations by the police have revealed that the murder plot was masterminded by Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy, alias Suri. Suri is undergoing life imprisonment in Cherlapalli central jail in Hyderabad in connection with the Jubilee Hills bomb blast incident in Hyderabad in November 1997. The blast was targeted at Ravi, his archrival. While Ravi escaped, the blast killed 26 people.

Ravi and Suri were involved in a family feud for a long time. A number of their family members have been killed in the last two decades.