Intelligence failure and security lapses led to attack on Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, say senior police officers

Intelligence failure and security lapses led to attack on Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, say senior police officers. The rope party was not close to the Chief Minister, and the Special Branch and Intelligence officers failed to unravel the conspiracy, they allege; court grants three days police custody to the accused. Court grants three days police custody to the accused.

Did Intelligence failure and lack of adequate security made it easy for the accused to target Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy during a roadshow in Vijayawada recently?

“Perhaps, yes,” say senior police officers.

Not satisfied with the explanation given by the NTR Commissionerate Police on the incident, the Election Commission of India (ECI) had on Tuesday transferred Director General (Intelligence) P. Sitaramanjaneyulu and Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata.

The ECI had also directed the government not to assign any election-related works to the two police officers.

“The police observed security lapses in the Chief Minister’s programme at the Dhabakotlu Centre. The rope party was not close to the Chief Minister and the Special Branch and Intelligence officers failed to detect the conspiracy,” a police officer told The Hindu on April 24 (Wednesday).

A daily wager, Vemula Satish Kumar, alias Satti, had allegedly hurled a sharp edged stone on the Chief Minister while he was participating in the ‘Memantha Siddham’ election campaign at the Dhabakotlu Centre in Vijayawada on April 13.

Following a complaint lodged by MLA Velampalli Srinivas, who too suffered injury in the incident, the Ajitsingh Nagar police registered a case under Section 307 IPC (Attempt to Murder).