Leaders from the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in Andhra Pradesh on Monday lodged a complaint with the Guntur police in the state, accusing the YSRCP of morphing a membership card of a TDP worker, to suggest that it belonged to Srinivas, the accused in the attack on Leader of Opposition YS Jaganmohan Reddy.
Jagan had sustained an injury on his left arm earlier this week after he was attacked with a small knife by Srinivas, who was working as a waiter at a restaurant at the Visakhapatnam airport, when he came closer to the leader and asked for a selfie. The incident occurred when Jagan was waiting to board a flight to Hyderabad.
According to media reports, senior TDP leader Varla Ramiah met with Guntur West DSP P Sowmya Latha and sought action against those morphing the photos and submitted the original membership card of two TDP workers, whose details were allegedly morphed and being circulated online as Srinivas' membership card.
Taking to Twitter, Information Technology Minister Nara Lokesh shared a video and said, "Here is Ankala Namburi whose membership card was morphed by YSRCP to falsely portray Srinivas as a TDP karyakartha. This video says it all."
In the video, Namburi is seen saying, "They removed my photo and put another photo in the card. I don't know why they picked my card number. I have a family to take care of and I've been rattled since I learnt the news that this is being circulated. I demand strict action against the accused."
Here is Ankala Namburi whose membership card was morphed by YSRCP to falsely portray Srinivas as a TDP karyakartha. This video says it all. https://t.co/wE0adaqUYf #jagannatakam
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) October 29, 2018
Meanwhile, Jagan on Monday wrote to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, seeking central intervention on the attack. Calling the attack unfair and motivated, Jagan sought intervention from the Centre in the investigation into the attack. Claiming that the investigation into the case by the state government was “undertaken in a predetermined and deficient manner”, Jagan stated that local inquiries had arrived at a “premature conclusion” and tried to portray the attack as an “internal ploy” of the YSRCP.
Calling the quick response by Andhra DGP RP Thakur, where he claimed that the attack was merely motivated by a desire to gain some public attention, as “hasty” and “improper ascertainment” and an attempt to minimise, Jagan said it was tailored to suit the interests of the ruling TDP government.