Cops make a U-turn, say attack on YSR Congress chief was a bid to kill him
Earlier, police had claimed that a restaurant employee had knifed Jagan Reddy for publicity
Hyderabad: In a U-turn of sorts, the Visakhapatnam Police in its remand report to a local court said that the knife attack on YSR Congress president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy was an attempt to murder him.
The report, however, contradicts the police’s earlier statement which claimed that J. Srinivas Rao, a restaurant employee, had done it for publicity. Reddy was attacked on 25 December at the Visakhapatnam airport’s VIP lounge.
After the details of the report was made public on Sunday, YSR Congress members alleged that the Telugu Desam Party-run state government was trying to establish that it was a publicity stunt by Reddy’s party. They also said that party representatives will meet Union home minister Rajnath Singh on Monday to apprise him of the incident.
The police report submitted to the 7th Additional Metropolitan Magistrate on 26 October said, “the accused had attacked the opposition leader with a knife to do away with his life...", adding that if the knife struck Reddy’s neck, he would have died.
The report, however, says that Srinivas was a “staunch supporter" of the YSRCP chief, but fails to mention why the assailant would want to kill him.
Reddy sustained an injury on his upper-left arm. He was later discharged from hospital after treatment.
The police later retrieved the small knife which was used for the attack, and also a 10-page handwritten letter written in Telugu by Srinivas.
The YSRCP however contested the police’s report, and said that the report tried to undermine the seriousness of the attack by mentioning that the weapon used for the attack is small. “But in reality it is sharp and used during cock fights," it mentioned in a statement. After the incident, given that it is a politically sensitive case, the Visakhapatnam police formed a special investigating team to look into it and filed a case with the court to grant 15 days of judicial remand with Srinivas for further investigation.
When asked about the discrepancies, Visakhapatnam police commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha said that investigation into the case is ongoing, and that all details will be out only later.
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