Investigation proceeding in pre-determined manner

Leader Of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said that the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and the Director General of Police in AP, RP Thakur were deliberately playing down the conspiracy behind the attempt on his life in the VIP lounge of Visakhapatnam airport on October 25.

It may be recalled that a chef, Srinivasa Rao, in Fusion Foods, a restaurant at the airport owned by Harshavardhan Prasad Chaudhary, a prominent Telugu Desam party activist,lunged at the YSR Congress Party chief after asking for a selfie with him. YS Jagan had a providential escape when the sharp knife pierced his left shoulder inflicting a deep gash. The chef, who came posing as a waiter, had aimed at the neck region of the YSRCP president.

YS wrote to the Governor of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State ESL Narasimhan, seeking an impartial probe into the attack. He added that in the light of the statements of the chief minister and the state DGP playing down the attack and leading the investigation in the wrong direction, he had no faith in the investigating agencies under AP government's control.

YS Jagan sought a transparent inquiry free of state government interference. The letter to the governor was handed over by a delegation led by YSR Congress Party general secretary Dharmana Prasada Rao and other leaders on Thursday.

In his letter, the YSRCP supremo said that the investigation taken up by the state government was proceeding in a  pre-determined manner  . He pointed out that the probing agency had already arrived at a premature conclusion. It was trying to portray the incident as an internal ploy of his party, he said in his letter.

YS Jagan also pointed out that the attack on him played out as per the script narrated by a TDP sympathiser, actor Sivaji, who had floated the Operation Garuda theory. It further reinforced his belief that this murderous attack was a part of a larger conspiracy to eliminate him, the YSRCP chief's letter stated.

YSRCP MLA RK Roja and senior party leader Dharmana Prasada Rao were among those who met the Governor at Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad. Later, speaking to the media, they reiterated the fact that they had no faith in the investigation taken up by the AP state government and an impartial probe by a third party agency was essential to unravel the underlying conspiracy behind this attempt on the life of the AP Leader of Opposition.