NIA court hears discharge petition in Jagan airport attack case

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  6 Feb 2020 2:29 PM GMT
NIA court hears discharge petition in Jagan airport attack case

Visakhapatnam: The NIA special court on 6 February heard the dismissal petition filed by defense counsel Salim Abdus on behalf of Janni Srinivasa Rao, the 25-year-old man who attacked Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy in the VIP lounge of Visakhapatnam International Airport on October 25, 2018.

The counsel pleaded that the offence is not maintainable under Section 307 of the IPC and 3A of Civil Aviation Act as no one was hurt nor any serious injury caused to the complainant and victim. "Srinivas is not a criminal or a terrorist and the case doesn’t deserve to be taken up by the NIA,’’ Mr Salim told this correspondent from Vijaywada. The NIA judge reserved judgment for February 13, the counsel said.

Srinivasa is now lodged in Rajahmundry Central Prison. He was released on bail last year but the NIA went to High Court and got the bail revoked. Srinivas was working at a cafeteria at the airport when the incident occurred. He said he had no intention of attacking Jagan. He was carrying a fruit salad knife when Jagan accidentally hit the knife and injured himself.

Srinivasa had hoped that after Jagan became the Chief Minister he would be set free so that he could lead a normal life. But the issue has been completely forgotten by both the ruling and Opposition parties. "The issue flared up for political reasons but after the elections, all the leaders forgot the incident," the defense advocate said.

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