Hyderabad, June 15: Andhra Pradesh police today arrested Congress MLA C.K. Jayachandra Reddy, alias C.K. Babu, on charges of murdering an engineering student last night.

District police superintendent Navin Chand said the Chittoor legislator had confessed to the crime, sparked by political and business rivalry.

Police say Babu, accompanied by gunmen, rushed to Y. Ravishankar Chowdhary’s house last night and kidnapped him for having quarrelled with his nephew Sudip earlier that day. Ravishankar, 22, is the son of Rajeswari, the district Telugu Desam women’s wing vice-president.

The student was taken in Babu’s vehicle to Eguvapalakuru village near Kanipakam crossroad, about 15 km from Chittoor. His burnt body was recovered from the spot this afternoon.

Police believe the miscreants burnt Ravishankar’s body after killing him.

According to Chand, Ravishankar and Sudip had quarrelled near a liquor shop in Chittoor after which the student and his friends ransacked the shop, which belongs to Babu’s relatives.

On hearing about the ransacking, the MLA and his henchmen rushed to the spot but could not trace Ravishankar who had rushed home.

The legislator and his men reached the house later and kidnapped the student.

Police say Sudip is at large and efforts are on to nab him.

The murder of the engineering student has put the Congress on the defensive in Chittoor district where it has nine MLAs to the Desam’s six. Chief minister . Chandrababu Naidu hails from this district.

The town was tense during Ravishankar’s funeral. A bandh called by the Desam was by and large peaceful.

The ruling party has demanded the arrest of all members of the MLA’s group involved in the kidnap and murder.

Top police officials, including the Rayalaseema inspector- general, A. Sivanarayan, are camping in the area to monitor the situation.