Jagan made accused in road accident case

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and his aides were named as accused in the fatal road accident, which led to the death of a supporter, Cheeli Singaiah, after being run over by his convoy vehicle. However, the YSRCP president blamed the poor security arrangements made by the government, despite being earmarked for Z+ security, for the fatality.

The Guntur police, which had earlier blamed a private car for the mishap, decided to add the name of the former chief minister as the accused after analysing videos that showed the vehicle running over Singaiah in the melee. In a statement, the district police informed, “After analysing various video footage, CCTV footage, drone visuals, and circumstantial witnesses about the incident, it was found that the deceased was seen under the wheels of the ex-chief minister’s vehicle and the sections were altered to sections 105 and 49 of BNS.”

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The police added the names of the driver, Ramana Reddy, Jagan Reddy’s personal assistant K Nageshwar Reddy, former MP YV Subbareddy, former MLA Perni Nani, and former minister Vidadala Rajini as accused apart from that of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. AP Home minister Anitha also slammed Reddy and party leaders for failing to remove the injured man to the hospital, terming their behaviour ‘inhuman’. She iterated that it was the police who made arrangements to take him to the hospital.

Jagan Reddy took to his ‘X’ handle on social media to refute the allegations. He accused the government of using the tragic incident to spread propaganda. He said, “When I was returning from Rentapalle village in Satenapalli constituency, our party leaders brought to my attention that an unfortunate incident had taken place. My party in charge, Balasani Kiran, immediately intervened, and Ambati Rambabu reached the hospital. I ordered financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh. We fulfilled our responsibility to the best of our ability towards the family that lost its loved one. That responsibility is doubled when the person who died was a fan of ours… yet they are spreading poisonous propaganda against us and giving lessons about morality and humanity.”

Addressing Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the former chief minister blamed poor security arrangements on the day he visited Palnadu. Reddy also claimed the government didn’t provide a good bulletproof vehicle, and he bought it with his own money with their permission. The government provided the driver according to protocol. He argued it was part of the protocol to provide security vehicles and rope parties to ensure that nobody falls on the vehicle. “Why were your pilot vehicles, including security and rope parties, not there when there were so many people around the former chief minister’s vehicle with Z plus security?” he questioned in a long post.