Naidu writes to Modi, objects to Jagan probe

VIJAYWADA: Escalating his fight against the Modi government, Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu had written a letter to the Prime Minister asking him to direct the Union home ministry to withdraw the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the attack on YSR Congress chief Jaganmohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam airport on October 23.

Raising strong objection to the Union home ministry taking over the case from the AP police, Naidu termed the move of the Centre as an 'intrusion' into the state's affairs. He said, "the Union government is diluting the autonomy of every institution. Entrusting the investigation of the airport incident to the NIA without looking into the objections raised by the state is a prime example."

He said the attack on Jaganmohan Reddy was a minor incident and does not "endanger the safety of civil aviation."

The chief minister further said the "incident by no stretch of imagination can be perceived as one having national and international ramifications or is an offence of grave nature fit enough for investigation by NIA, more so, when the victim himself walked away without even reporting the same to the authorities concerned." He alleged "the Union government usurped jurisdiction over the issue where it had none."

He cited the provisions of the Civil Aviation Act-1982 and the National Investigation Agency Act 2008 to justify his objections for the NIA taking over the case.

Modi doing the exact opposite: Naidu

He also recalled and quoted the statement of Narendra Modi as chief minister of Gujarat when the NIA Act was passed and alleged that Modi as PM was doing exactly opposite to what he said as chief minister. Naidu also quoted the judgement of Bombay High Court in the case of Pragya Singh and Chandrapaul Singh vs NIA and said the attack on Jagan does not come under the jurisdiction of the central government. He also accused Modi of helping his ‘blue-eyed boys’ to wriggle out of the cases handled by the NIA.