Jagan Mohan Reddy has not deposed before the court ever five years after the incident, forcing the accused to languish in jail as an undertrial.
Published Jan 21, 2024 | 1:05 PM ⚊ Updated Jan 21, 2024 | 1:15 PM
Srinu's mother and elder brother with Sainik Dal members in Vijayawada. (South First)
Janipalli Srinivas, a worker at a food joint at the Visakhapatnam airport, became “Kodi Kathi (rooster knife) Srinu” on 25 October, 2018. This was when he allegedly attacked YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy with a knife — or spur — normally used in rooster fights.
He was overpowered even as Jagan escaped with a minor injury on his shoulder. Srinu, a Dalit man, has since been languishing in jail but for a brief period out on bail.
Ever since the incident, his family has been demanding bail or trial. The reason is simple. Jagan, the survivor and eyewitness, has been avoiding attending the trial court to depose before the judge.
On Thursday, 18 January, Srinu’s mother Savitri, and elder brother Subba Raju began a hunger strike in Vijayawada, after their multiple attempts to meet YS Jagan, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh went in vain. They said the chief minister has been refusing to attend the court to record his statement or withdraw the case.
The case, incidentally, took a political hue even before the 2019 general election, with Jagan’s critics alleging that the incident had helped the YSRCP supremo win the sympathy of the voters. With the 2024 elections just around the corner, the incident has once again garnered the political limelight.
However, there is a twist.
Even as Jagan took pride in inaugurating the world’s tallest Ambedkar statue at Swaraj Maidan in Vijayawada on Friday, 19 January, several Dalit organisations came in support of Srinu’s mother and brother.
The mother-son duo had earlier sought police permission to hold the hunger strike at Dharna Chowk, but their request was rejected. Unperturbed, and determined, Savitri, 75, and Raju, 40, went ahead with their plan at an undisclosed location to avoid possible detention on the second day of protest.
Apparently, the Jagan administration has taken the strike and the support it has, seriously. Several Dalit leaders were placed under house arrest ahead of the unveiling of the statue, a move widely seen as a bid to consolidate Dalit votes.
Even Srinu’s lawyer and High Court Advocate Abdus Saleem went incommunicado to avoid detention. However, after the inauguration, everyone gathered and protested at a private hotel, since they were denied permission to hold the protest at a public space.
South First reached out to family members as well as Advocate Saleem. He explained the details of the case. Saleem highlighted that he was arguing the case pro bono as the poor family’s plight had touched him.
It was a Thursday, 25 October 2018. The then Opposition leader Jagan was at the Visakhapatnam airport to board a flight to Hyderabad to attend a court the next day, in connection with a CBI case against him.
Advocate Saleem recalled that some 16 people were with him at the VIP lounge when he was allegedly stabbed. However, only one eyewitness, Dinesh Kumar, Assistant Commandant at Visakhapatnam Airport, has recorded a statement so far.
According to Kumar’s statement recorded on 7 March 2023, “Jagan’s party workers ordered coffee/tea from the Fusion Food Restaurant (where the accused Srinivas was working as a cook). Srinivas entered the lounge with water bottles and attempted to take a selfie with Jagan. Standing on the left side, he attacked Jagan’s left arm, two or three inches below the shoulder, with a small knife. The accused fell to the floor and sustained injuries as party workers tried to apprehend him, but he resisted.”
During cross-examination, Kumar stated that he did not witness whether Srinivas had attacked or not, as everything happened very fast. The officer also mentioned that he did not recover the knife from either the accused or the victim but from one of the party workers.
A poster made by the YSRCP official website. (Supplied)
“Also, there were no CCTV cameras in the VIP lounge at the time of the incident. The other 10 witnesses present have not recorded their statements so far,” the advocate said.
“Jagan, who is also a victim, cited his duties as the chief minister and the potential for traffic jams as reasons for not appearing in court,” Saleem added.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the local police initially probed the case, which was taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on 1 January, 2019.
Later, Srinu was granted bail by the NIA Vijayawada court on 23 May, 2019, and released on 25 May. However, with the NIA approaching the state high court, his bail was cancelled on 16 August.
After nearly four years of thorough investigation, the NIA informed the court on 13 April, 2023, that there was no conspiracy behind the attack on the then Opposition leader, Jagan.
However, Jagan’s legal team challenged the NIA version, asserting that there was indeed a conspiracy to eliminate Jagan, as the accused had worked under Harshavardhan Chowdary of the Telugu Desam Party, who aspired to contest from the Gajuwaka Assembly constituency in the 2014 elections.
The NIA trial court in Vijayawada dismissed Jagan’s appeal on 25 July, 2023. However, the order was challenged in the high court and has since been pending. Srinivas’s bail plea, too, has been pending before the high court.
The accused was later shifted to Visakhapatnam from the Rajahmundry (Rajamahendravaram) central jail in August 2023 as the case has been shifted to the Visakhapatnam.
“The case has reached its concluding stage, with the NIA presenting the versions of all witnesses and the accused, Srinu. The only pending statement is that of the victim, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. However, the chief minister has been avoiding appearing in court,” the advocate said.
Srinu’s elder brother, Raju, accompanied his mother Savitri, was supported by the Samata Sainik Dal, an organisation founded by Dr BR Ambedkar in 1927. The two-member family, along with other Sainik Dal members, have now gone on a hunger strike.
Despite visitors from different political backgrounds at the site, Savitri, was seen sleeping tired beside an Ambedkar portrait.
Srinu’s mother and elder brother with Sainik Dal members in Vijayawada. (South First)
Raju, a construction labourer, expressed his concern: “It’s been five years since we had our brother back home. My mother wants to see him out on bail or have the case completed at the earliest,” he said.
“She makes a living by enrolling in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), but her health is deteriorating with age. Meanwhile, my father is bedridden. He used to earn ₹18,000 and send home ₹16,000, but for the past five years, we have been financially exhausted,” he added.
“If anyone does not attend court, the court issues summons. Why is Jagan not attending the court? Shouldn’t the law be equal for all?,” Samata Sainik Dal Andhra State General Secretary Surendra Babu asked.
Raju emphasised their only demand: Either Jagan should record his statement and complete the trial or withdraw the case.
“He has been kept as an undertrial prisoner for the past five years. The country’s top premier investigating agency, NIA, itself says there was no conspiracy. But Jagan does not agree,” he said.
“After all, it was just a small scratch on Jagan’s shoulder, for which my brother has been paying the cost for the past five years. My mother last saw him when he appeared in the Visakhapatnam court around three months ago. We didn’t have the money to travel to Visakhapatnam Central Jail often. We tried to reach out to Jagan several times but couldn’t and the protest is our last resort,” Raju added.
After being released on bail on 25 May 2019, in an interview with the Telugu news channel TV9, the accused Srinivas said: “I wrote a letter to be handed over to Jagan, after learning that he had come, I went there, and being a cook, I had carried a small knife, fork, and a pen. In a rush, somehow one of them accidentally scrapped Jagan. It was an accident.”
However, the TDP alleged that it was a tactic by former poll I-PAC strategist Prashant Kishor (who is now working for the TDP) to win public sympathy. This was contested by the YSRCP, alleging that it was a planned attack by the owner of the Fusion Food Restaurant, a pro-TDP person where Srinivas was working.
When asked, both the advocate and the elder brother told South First that YSRCP Minister Botsa Satyanarayana’s nephew Majji Srinivasa Rao, a Zilla Parishad chairman was behind the attack and later implicated Srinivas. Both have further demanded the release of the letter that Srinivas had written to Jagan. The letter, they claimed, highlighted the plight of the poor.
‘Kodi Kathi’ Srinu with YS Jagan at Vizag Airport VIP lounge. (Supplied)
The NIA in its report dated 13 April, 2023, said no one else other than Srinivas was involved in the attack. The report ruled out any political conspiracy, as alleged by Jagan.
But, it said Janipalli Srinivasa Rao entered the VIP lounge without authorisation and stood on the left side of Jagan, waiting for the right moment to attack the public functionary. As per his premeditated plan, the accused attacked the public functionary with a small sharp object/knife(roster knife), aiming for his neck, to kill him.
“The accused Srinivasa Rao had full knowledge about the travel pattern of Jagan Mohan Reddy from Visakhapatnam Airport, as he was closely observing the padayatra being undertaken by Jagan in North Andhra Districts.”
(South First does not endorse or make any statements as the case is still under trial and the matter is sub judice. The article aims to present the views of the family who are undergoing a fast-unto-death protest for the past three days, demanding either a “speedy trial or bail.”)
