VISAKHAPATNAM: YSR Congress chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy suffered a minor injury on his shoulder after he was attacked with a sharp object by a waiter at the VIP lounge in the Visakhapatnam airport this afternoon.
The attacker aged below 30, identified as Srinivas from Mummidivaram in East Godavari district, has been arrested immediately. The sharp object, which looks like the ones that are used during cockfights, has also been seized. Jagan left for Hyderabad after first-aid.
According to police and eye-witnesses, Srinivas approached Jagan for a selfie at the VIP lounge where the latter was waiting. The YSRC chief obliged him and while posing for the selfie, Srinivas stabbed Jagan on his left shoulder. Srinivas tried to stab him again for the second time. Luckily, he was overpowered by nearby party activists and leaders.
CISF personnel and local police immediately whisked away Srinivas for questioning. The incident has shocked YSRC activists and leaders, who came in large numbers to the airport.
Speaking to the media, former MLA from Visakhapatnam district Dharmasri said, "Jagan Mohan Reddy was waiting at the airport lounge for the scheduled time of take off. As the security staff told him that boarding time was nearing, Jagan put down the coffee cup he was holding and was about to go. That was when Srinivas came near us and sought a selfie with Jagan. Srinivas went near Jagan and as the latter was posing for the selfie, Jagan was attacked. For a second we did not know what was happening. We were shocked but immediately overpowered Srinivas.''
YSRC leaders alleged that there was a conspiracy behind the attack. "Srinivas might have tried to stab Jagan on the neck. The canteen at the airport where Srinivas works is owned by a TDP leader Harshavardhan and Srinivas was hired by the former just a few days back,'' they alleged and wondered how could a person sneak into the high-security airport with a knife.
YSRC MLA Roja blamed the state government for the attack and said Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and his party are behind the attack.
Meanwhile, Home Minister China Rajappa termed the incident unfortunate and said the police were gathering details about the attacker.
The Civil Aviation Minister Suresh Prabhu, while expressing his shock over the incident, has asked all the agencies including CISF to investigae the attack thoroughly.