VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada City Police have reportedly taken another person into custody suspecting his involvement in the attack on Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy last Saturday.
The police have already taken five persons into custody for questioning. The sixth person Vemula Durga Rao also belongs to Vaddera Colony of Singh Nagar.
Meanwhile, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu alleged that the police are trying to implicate party Vijayawada Central candidate Bonda Umamaheswara Rao in the case.
According to sources, Durga Rao was present at the spot along with Satish, who was earlier picked up by the police for questioning. Durga Rao was reportedly picked up from Bonda Uma’s office which raised political heat.
Uma said it was a deliberate attempt to implicate him in the case. “The attack was a freak one. Those who were earlier picked up from Vaddera Colony have claimed that they have hurled the stone as the YSRC government had removed the Anna Canteen in their locality. The youngsters have even said that they were promised Rs 300 each for attending the meeting while women were promised Rs 200 each, but were not given which made them angry,” Uma said.
The YSRC tried to gain sympathy by overplaying the incident but could not get any. “Now, they want to blame the TDP for the incident. I will not spare any police officer who implicates me in the case. We will come to power soon and we will take action against officials who foist cases,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Naidu criticised the YSRC for its attempt to blame the TDP for the stone pelting incident against Jagan. “Police took youths and minors from Vaddera Colony, labelling them as the accused, into custody and it was indicative of the government’s efforts to conspire against the TDP without disclosing who actually perpetrated the act,’’ he said, and alleged that the YSRC is plotting to involve TDP candidates and key leaders in cases.
He said the YSRC is targeting Bonda Uma with an intention to disrupt his poll campaign in Vijayawada Central segment with false accusations.
Naidu urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to keep a track of the abuse of power and demanded that officials failing to ensure the CM’s security should be relieved of investigation responsibilities. “A thorough inquiry should be conducted under the ECI supervision,” the TDP chief said.
YSRC spokesperson K Ravichandra Reddy questioned as to how the TDP can raise a hue and cry that their leaders are being targeted even before the police made any statement on the accused in the incident. “The reaction of Naidu makes us believe that he might be behind the attack,’’ he observed.