‘Security failure’ – Jagan hits out at Naidu govt as Andhra Police consider hit-and-run case against him

The injured person was “not cared for”. “The case against YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy is not related to intentional murder but related to hit and run because his actions were unbecoming of a former CM,” the source said.

YSRCP leaders, however, claimed that they too had accompanied the injured to the hospital. Meanwhile, Reddy blamed the Telugu Desam Party government in the state for “security failure” causing the demise of his party worker.

In a post on X, he said that the state’s Chief Minister and TDP leader N Chandrababu Naidu has “degraded the standards of politics” in the state by “deliberately restricting” him from touring Rentapalla. “Why are Opposition leaders like me being stopped from visiting our own party workers or expressing solidarity with farmers and citizens,” he asked in a long post. He further said that Z+ category security is “not favour but a security protocol”. If security protocols were in place how could someone have come under the vehicle, Jagan asked. “Did the government fail to provide security?” he asked in a post on X.

Jagan said that even though the government did not provide him a bulletproof vehicle according to security protocol, he had arranged one at his own expense. He used a driver provided by the government. “Yet all responsibility for the convoy’s safety lies with the government”, he wrote.

Cheeli Singaiah, 55, died after being run over when he slipped and fell in front of the vehicle while trying to shower flowers on Jagan. According to officials, the vehicle’s front right wheel ran over the man’s neck. The fatal road accident that allegedly occurred when Jagan was on his way to Rentapalla village in Palnadu district.

In the case, the police have named Jagan accused No 2. According to sources, Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 49 (Abetment) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) are applied in the case.

Singaiah was a resident of Vengalayapalem village and had gone to greet Jagan with flowers. The incident occurred when Jagan was returning after visiting Rentapalla village in Palnadu district, where he had gone to console the family of a former sarpanch who had died by suicide, allegedly due to police harassment.

Initially, it was thought that Singaiah was injured after climbing on a vehicle in Jagan’s convoy and falling down, but videos of him being crushed under the vehicle in which Jagan was travelling have gone viral on social media.

Jagan, in his post added that after learning about the “unfortunate death” of his supporter, he immediately asked his party leaders including Balasani Kiran and Ambati Rambabu to provide help. He has announced Rs 10 lakh as ex-gratia for the deceased’s family. Jagan asked Chandrababu Naidu to change his ways, act with responsibility and stop using political power to suppress the opposition.