A youth involved in the knife attack on YSR Congress Party President Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam Airport in October last year was released on bail on Saturday.
J. Srinivasa Rao alias Srinivas was released from Rajahmundry Central Jail, a day after NIA Special Court in Vijayawada granted him bail.
The youth told reporters after his release that he did not deliberately attack Jagan Reddy. He claimed that he met the YSRCP leader to discuss people’s problems and the knife he was carrying accidentally hurt him.
Claiming that he is a fan of Jagan Reddy, Srinivas said he was ready to undergo Narco Analysis test to prove his innocence.
He said after the incident when people around him started thrashing, Jagan Reddy intervened to save him.
Srinivas said he was happy that Jagan Reddy was becoming Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. His family hoped that the government would drop the case against him.
Interestingly, Srinivas was released on bail two days after YSRCP stormed to power with resounding victory in Assembly elections. Jagan Reddy is set to take oath as the Chief Minister next week.
Jagan, as the YSRCP leader is popularly known, was injured when Srinivas, a worker at the airport canteen, attacked him with a knife used in cockfights on October 25. Jagan was attacked as he was waiting to board a flight to Hyderabad.
Jagan, who sustained a cut on his left upper arm, continued his journey and got admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad.
YSRCP had alleged a conspiracy by ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to kill its leader while the latter termed it as a ploy to gain public sympathy.
Jagan had refused to record his statement before the Andhra Pradesh Police saying he had no trust in agencies controlled by the state government.
On the directions of the Union Home Ministry, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) booked a case on January 1 and took up the investigation.
Within a month, NIA filed the charge sheet in the case and conveyed to the court that the probe into the conspiracy angle will continue.
–IANS
ms/in
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)