Police to step up security of A.P. CM
A report on stone throwing incident has been submitted to EC, says State DGP; YSRCP alleges TDP’s involvement, while latter calls it a ‘drama’
ndhra Pradesh DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) K.V. Rajendranath Reddy has asked the Police Department to step up security for Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy after the latter was injured in a stonethrowing incident during election campaign in Vijayawada on Saturday.
After the incident, the NTR Commissionerate Police registered an attempttomurder case based on a complaint lodged by YSRCP MLA Vellampalli Srinivas, who was also injured in the incident, and took some suspects into custody on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) asked State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Mukesh Kumar Meena to submit a detailed report. “I have asked the Vijayawada Commissioner of Police to submit a report on the incident within a day and try to identify the culprits at the earliest,” Mr. Meena told The Hindu.
The DGP, who reviewed security of the Chief Minister, also inquired about the progress of the investigation. “A report on the incident and the progress in the investigation has been submitted to the EC. Six teams have been formed to probe into the incident. The mobile call data related to the Dhabakotlu Centre in Ajitsingh Nagar,
Awhere the incident occurred, are being examined,” he said.
More than 1,000 police personnel, including several IPS officers, Additional SPs and DSPs, were deployed as part of the bandobust for the Chief Minister’s tour in Vijayawada. Besides, spotters, counter intelligence police, Special Intelligence Bureau, Special Branch and other wings were also deployed for security, the DGP said.
Meanwhile, additional police personnel have been deployed at Dhabakotlu Centre area.
“The culprits might have taken position in the small lane behind the trees in advance. Taking advantage of the darkness when the officials cut power supply to give a passage to the Chief Minister’s vehicle, the culprits might have hurled stones,” said an officer.
The police took several people with past cases in the locality into custody for questioning. “We suspect that more than one person might have thrown stones. We are trying to collect the footage from drone cameras. It is difficult to gather clues from the footage as it was dark,” said another officer.
CBI probe sought
The ruling YSRCP and the main Opposition TDP resorted to a blame game over the incident. The YSRCP leaders alleged the involvement of the TDP in the incident, while the latter described it as a ‘drama’. A delegation of the TDPBJPJSP alliance submitted a memorandum to Additional Chief Electoral Officer M.N. Harendira Prasad and sought a CBI probe. “The incident was stagemanaged by the YSRCP to gain public sympathy and garner votes in the elections,” he alleged.