Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested 10 workers of the YSR Congress Party for the damage caused to the helicopter during former chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to the Sri Sathya Sai district last month.
The police arrested the accused, including a local public representative of the YSR Congress party.
The accused were medically examined at Dharmavaram Hospital and will be produced before a magistrate.
Police have identified 19 people involved in the incident that occurred during YSRCP President Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to Ramagiri in Sri Sathya Sai district to console the family of a Backward Class leader of the party who was murdered.
The police identified the accused after scanning the CCTV footage. Police teams have been sent to Bengaluru, Vijayawada and Hyderabad to arrest the accused.
Jagan Mohan Reddy had reached Papireddypalli village by the helicopter on April 8 to console the family of a leader, allegedly murdered by the cadres of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
The YSRCP workers broke through the barricades at the helipad to reach close to the helicopter, and in the commotion, the chopper’s windshield was reportedly damaged.
The incident had forced Jagan Mohan Reddy to return to Bengaluru by road.
The YSRCP leaders had condemned the negligence of the state government in not ensuring adequate police presence at the helipad, though the former chief minister is a Z-plus category protectee.
The police took up an investigation into the allegations and, as part of this, summoned both pilot and co-pilot for questioning. They had appeared before the police on April 16. They were asked to explain how they flew back if the helicopter was risky for Jagan.
The helicopter belongs to a private company based in Karnataka. The police had doubts about the claim that the helicopter’s windshield was damaged.
Meanwhile, YSRCP has slammed the coalition government for misusing police and filing false cases against its political opponents and indiscriminately arresting the cadres to cover up its failure in providing security to Jagan Mohan Reddy.
YSRCP spokesperson Putta Siva Sankar Reddy said that police have filed false cases against former MLA Topudurthi Prakash Reddy and his brother on false charges and have been indiscriminately arresting his followers.
Siva Sankar Reddy said that when the helicopter got damaged and Jagan Mohan Reddy had to return by road, the failure of the police was clear in the open. To cover the failure, police have registered false cases of provoking the crowd against Praksah Reddy and his brother and today they have rounded up his followers in Raptad constituency, he said.
