Knife attack on Jagan: NIA court fixes next hearing to April 20

VIJAYAWADA: The special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) heard the 2019 knife-attack case on then leader of opposition – and present CM -- YS Jagan Mohan Reddy here on Monday and posted the next hearing to April 20.

Counsel for Jagan, Venkateswarlu, said several issues raised by Jagan Reddy were not properly investigated by the NIA before it filed the charge-sheet. The knife attack took place on January 23, 2019.
 
“When Jagan Reddy filed an affidavit through counsel alleging a conspiracy angle and seeking a thorough inquiry, the NIA filed a counter affidavit ruling out any conspiracy and claimed there was no  need for a thorough inquiry. We sought inquiry as to how the Airport Entry Pass was given to accused J Srinivasa Rao without properly verifying his antecedents.”

Counsel said the NIA played down such issues. NIA did not take up an inquiry into the letter written by the accused to his parents, urging them to donate his organs in case anything happened to him, counsel noted.

However, accused Srinivasa’s counsel Abdus Saleem said that the then airport official Dinesh Kumar had already given his statement before the court. He sought the presence of both the victim and CM Jagan in the court.