The main opposition leader of Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, had filed a petition in the Hyderabad High Court, seeking a direction to assign the investigation into the attempt on his life to an independent agency.
The petition is likely to come up for hearing on Thursday. Mr. Reddy said the investigating agency he had sought should not come under the control of Andhra Pradesh State or its police chief. Already, a writ petition by his YSR Congress party political affairs committee member and another Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition by two others were filed with near similar content on the matter.
In the fresh writ petition, Mr. Reddy made AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as one of the respondents along with the State Home Secretary and the DGP. The YSRCP president stated that he had lost trust in the State led by Mr. Naidu and its police machinery and hence sought probe by an independent agency to unravel truth behind the attack.
Describing the attack as a serious one posing threat to his life, he deplored that the response of the State machinery and the CM was casual. This had raised suspicions about their integrity, he said. Stating that the attacker belonged to the ruling Telugu Desam Party, he charged that the airport was chosen for the attack as the State can escape claiming that security there was not its responsibility.
The attacker was an employee of airport canteen owner Harshavardhan Chowdary who was aspiring TDP ticket to contest from Gajuwaka assembly constituency of Visakhapatnam, he stated hinting that the attack was handiwork of some persons behind the screen.
Mr. Reddy stated that the DGP made irresponsible statements like the attacker being YSRCP sympathiser despite the accused inflicting life-threatening injury on him.