Families of suspects held for stone attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy stage protest

Vijayawada, April 17: Some residents of Vaddera Colony in Vijayawada staged a protest on Wednesday after police allegedly picked up another person in connection with the April 13 attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The family members of Durga Rao were worried over his whereabouts as they could not find him at the police station.

Police have reportedly picked up six persons for questioning in connection with the attack.

The Chief Minister suffered an injury above his eyebrow when he was hit by a stone hurled at him from the crowd at Daba Kottu in Ajit Singh Nagar last Saturday when he was campaigning for the next month’s elections.

YSRCP MLA Velampalli Srinivasa Rao, who was standing next to Jagan Mohan Reddy, was also injured in the attack.

Some residents of Vaddera Colony alleged that they were being falsely implicated in the case. They staged a protest near the Police Commissioner’s office but were pacified by the police.

Families of the daily wage workers picked up by police have demanded their immediate release. The special teams constituted to probe the case, picked up some suspects and are investigating the role of six of them. The police collected video recordings from various individuals who took part in the roadshow on Saturday and also the CCTV footage from places near the scene of the offence.

It was initially suspected that the attacker might have used a sling or an air gun, but police have reportedly come to the conclusion that the stone was thrown at a high speed. The attacker is suspected to have hurled a piece of tile that is used on pavements.

Vijayawada police on April 14 registered an attempt to murder case against unknown persons. A case under the Indian Penal Code's Section 307 (attempt to murder) was registered at AS Nagar Police Station on a complaint by MLA Srinivasa Rao.

Police are still probing the motive behind the attack.

The incident has triggered a war of words between the ruling and opposition parties. The YSRCP blamed TDP for the attack while the latter termed the incident a ‘drama’ to gain sympathy.

Simultaneous elections to the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats are scheduled on May 13.