HYDERABAD: The “assassination attempt” on Prohibition and Excise Minister V Srinivas Goud, which the Cyberabad police claim to have foiled, is kicking up a political storm with the BJP leaders on Thursday pouncing on the TRS for implicating them in the case and calling entire conspiracy theory a sham.
After Cyberabad Police Commissioner M Stephen Raveendra said on Wednesday night that the police were looking into allegations of involvement of former MP and BJP leader AP Jithender Reddy and BJP vice-president DK Aruna in the assassination plot, the saffron party leaders went on the offensive.
BJP State president Bandi Sanjay said that those who questioned Srinivas Goud on his corrupt deeds have been booked in the case which was nothing but vendetta. The police acted with surprising haste to arrest those who had nothing to do with any conspiracy by going to Delhi, Sanjay said.
During the day, Sanjay paid Aruna a visit at her residence in Hyderabad. “We are prepared for any eventuality. We are not cowed down by the strong arm-tactics of the TRS government,” he said and warned the TRS that they would go to any extent to expose its malafide intentions. The conspiracy theory is intended to whip up sympathy for Srinivas Goud and shore up his electoral prospects, Sanjay said.
The BJP State president pointed out that he would approach all the inquiry agencies. “There is a need for a high-level inquiry,” he said.Aruna demanded a CBI probe into whether any conspiracy was hatched and if so who were involved in the same.“The TRS is trying to implicate BJP leaders like me and Jithender Reddy with a bizarre theory that those who were involved in the attempt on the life of Srinivas Goud were somehow connected to us.
The conspiracy theory trotted out by the police was the creation of political strategist Prashant Kishor to help Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao get the upper hand over the BJP,” Aruna said, adding that the conspiracy theory that the police had rolled out suffered from the serious flaw of lacking a strong motive for the accused to eliminate Srinivas Goud. Also, dates did not add up since those who allegedly tried to attack the hitmen hired to kill the minister were in fact arrested two days earlier, she said.
Aruna also dared Rao to come out openly and fight with her, instead of using the police to file false cases against the individuals who were only trying to expose Srinivas Goud for his fraudulent affidavit filed with the Election Commission during the elections. “The police have become puppets in the hands of the State government, which was evident in the way press meet was conducted by Commissioner of Police Stephen Raveendra,” she said.
Jithender Reddy, however, admitted knowing Munnuru Ravi, who was among the persons arrested in Delhi in the conspiracy case. “He visits our house frequently. When he visited my house in Delhi, my PA told me he came on some personal work. But I do not know who were with him,” Jithender Reddy said and pointed out that if the state government had no faith in CBI, it could order a judicial inquiry.
On Wednesday night, some unidentified persons attacked the residences of Jithender Reddy and Aruna soon after Stephen Ravindra’s mentioned their names in his media conference. Around 16 persons had set fire to the tyre of Reddy’s car and smashed its windshield.They also hurled stones at their houses. After the police suspected the BJP leaders’ role, BJP national president JP Nadda spoke to Sanjay Kumar and Jithender Reddy and inquired about what was happening in Telangana. Both leaders were assured of full support from the party.
Saffron offensive
BJP leaders went on the offensive after the Cyberabad Police Commissioner revealed that the investigators were looking into the involvement of Jithender Reddy and DK Aruna, saying that they would not be cowed down by the ‘strong arm tactics’ of the State government