The Hyderabad High Court on Monday pulled up the Andhra Pradesh government and sought to know why the state had not sent a report to the Centre over the attack on YSRCP President Jaganmohan Reddy at the Visakhapatnam airport. The report was sought as per the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act 2008 and the Civil Aviation Act.
Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice S.V. Bhatt were hearing a petition by Jagan that sought a probe by a central agency and stated that he did not have trust in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Andhra Pradesh government.
“The court wants to know why the State government has so far not forwarded the information to the Centre,” the bench was quoted as saying. After asking for a report, the court posted the matter for Wednesday.
Jagan was attacked by a man identified as Srinivas, a waiter working at a restaurant at the airport, on October 25, when the accused who claimed to be his fan and approached him for a selfie. He was scheduled to leave for Hyderabad and was waiting in the VIP lounge.
Andhra DGP RP Thakur said that the accused was a fan of Jagan and attacked him for 'publicity.' In his petition in front of the High Court, Jagan pointed out that the DGP’s press conference was held within an hour of the attack without proper investigation, thereby suspecting foul play.
Earlier, Jagan also wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking central intervention on the attack.
In the letter, the YSRCP chief claimed that the investigation by the state government was “undertaken in a predetermined and deficient manner,” adding that the inquiry had arrived at a “premature conclusion” and tried to portray the attack as an “internal ploy” of the YSRCP.
Jagan has also alleged that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu conspired to eliminate him and plotted the knife attack. He alleged that the attack was scripted in the month of March after his padayatra received an overwhelming response.