YSR Congress Party leader Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday requested Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to order a central agency inquiry into the attack on him at the Visakhapatnam airport on October 25 as he does not have faith in the Andhra Pradesh Police, reports said. A delegation of YSR Congress Party leaders visited Delhi to submit Reddy’s letter to Singh.
The YSR Congress Party and Andhra Pradesh’s ruling Telugu Desam Party have accused each other as well as the Centre of conspiracy in connection with the attack.
Reddy was stabbed in the left arm by restaurant worker Janipalli Srinivasa Rao when he was on his way to Hyderabad after finishing a march in Vizianagaram district. Rao attacked the politician after asking him for a selfie.
In his letter, the YSR Congress alleged that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was trying to “influence the investigation teams by trivialising” the matter. Director General of Police RP Thakur has reportedly said that the attack was a publicity gimmick. “This [central agency investigation] would only ensure that the investigation would not be vitiated and the real reasons behind the attack on me would be unearthed,” Reddy wrote.
YSR Congress Party’s General Secretary V Vijayasayi Reddy said Singh had responded positively to their request. Subba Reddy, another YSR Congress Party leader, has moved the Hyderabad High Court seeking a central agency investigation into the attack.
Meanwhile, Visakhapatnam city Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Ladda said the special investigation team conducting inquiries into the case is interrogating four employees of Sri Fusion Foods at the airport along with Srinivasa Rao, the Hindustan Times reported. On Sunday, the police requested that Rao be remanded to 15 days of police custody.
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