The Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday said that the recent attack on YSRCP President YS Jaganmohan Reddy at the Visakhapatnam airport was an attempt to murder him. The police made this claim in a remand report that was submitted to a local court, while seeking custody of the accused. This came, even as the YSRCP has planned to approach the President of India and demand a third party probe, stating that they did not trust the investigation by state authorities.
Jagan was attacked with a small knife by a man working as a waiter at a restaurant at the airport, who approached him with a request to take a selfie. The incident occurred when Jagan was waiting to board a flight to Hyderabad.
Given the case's sensitivity, the Visakhapatanam police have appointed an Assistant Commissioner of Police rank officer to oversee the investigation. Apart from a mobile phone, a small knife of 2.5 inches, another instrument with a blade, and 10-page hand-written letter was seized from the accused. He was arrested under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of Indian Penal Code.
Meanwhile, in a related development, YSRCP Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy and former MPs YV Subba Reddy, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy and P Avinash Reddy travelled to New Delhi on Sunday and have sought an appointment with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and President Ram Nath Kovind.
Speaking to reporters, Subba Reddy said, “We don’t trust and do not have confidence on the investigation by the AP police as minutes after the attack, the state police and TDP leaders started a cover-up. The DGP said that the attacker was a YSRC sympathiser and attacked Jagan to seek publicity which is part of cover up act. We suspect senior leaders of the ruling party are behind the attack and we demand a third party probe with any central agency."
Following the attack, Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police R.P. Thakur told reporters that the accused was Jagan's fan. He said the youth might have carried out the attack for publicity.
The case garnered significant political attention as the main parties YSRCP and TDP made 'conspiracy' accusations at each other. While TDP said that the BJP was involved in motivating the crime, YSRCP accused TDP for plotting to eliminate its leader.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi earlier this week, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu even said that the attack on Jagan was an attempt by the BJP to destabilise the state government.