Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s attacker, Janipalli Srinivasa Rao, secured bail from the AP high court on Thursday. The court granted him conditional bail with Rs 25,000 and two sureties.

The court told Srinivasa Rao not to speak to the media about the case. It also directed him to appear before the Mummadivaram police station on every Sunday till further orders.

Srinivasa Rao challenged the NIA court’s decision cancelling his petition for bail. He told the court that he had been in jail for five years and there was no investigation. He further told the court that Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was not attending the court for hearings.

Srinivasa Rao is an accused in the attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam airport. The accused attacked Jagan Mohan Reddy with a sharp knife while trying to take a selfie with Jagna Mohan Reddy in the airport.

Jagan Mohan Reddy escaped unhurt and was treated in Hyderabad before the 2019 general election. The case was heard in the NIA court in Vijayawada for three years and then was shifted to Visakhapatnam two years ago.

Srinivasa Rao’s parents held a fasting protest in Vijayawada demanding that their son be released on bail. Even Srinivasa Rao also held a protest in the jail on the same demand. The high court heard the arguments on both sides last month and reserved the judgement.

The advocate for Srinivasa Rao told the high court that Jagan Mohan Reddy was not attending the court for the hearings forcing Srinivasa Rao to be in jail. It was not proper for a person facing murder charges to be in jail without trial, the advocate told the court.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Vijayawada on Tuesday dismissed the petition of AP chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy seeking further investigation into the attack on him in Visakhapatnam airport, popularly known as Kodi Katti Case.

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s advocate filed a petition seeking further investigation into the case exploring controversy into the whole incident. The advocate told the court that there must be a major conspiracy behind the attack on Jagan Mohan Reddy. The advocate wanted the court to direct the NIA to investigate into the involvement of other persons in the case.

However, the court dismissed the petition stating that no further investigation is required in the case. The court posted the case for its next hearing on August 1, 2023.

The court also posted the bail petition of accused Srinivas in the case to August 1, 2023. The court said that it would hear both the case and the bail petition on the same day.

The advocate for Srinivas told the court that the accused has been in jail for the past four years. Coming to the court for every hearing had become difficult even for the jail authorities, the advocate said.

The judge called the Rajamahendravaram central jail superintendent to know the difficulties in bringing the accused from the jail to the court for every hearing. The superintendent also told the judge that online hearing for the accused from the jail was not possible.

However, the judge posted the case for August 1 for next hearing and asked the advocates to come prepared for both the case and the bail petition for the accused.

The NIA court on Monday adjourned to April 20 the hearing in the case relating to the 2018 knife attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at Visakhapatnam Airport.

The National Investigation (NIA) sought time to make its arguments on a petition filed on behalf of the chief minister seeking in-depth investigation.

Last week, the NIA had stated in a counter affidavit to a petition filed by Jagan Mohan Reddy that there was no conspiracy behind the attack. It urged the court to dismiss the petition.

The agency told the court that Harshvardhan, the owner of the airport restaurant, was not involved in the attack.

J. Srinivas Rao, a worker at the restaurant had attacked Jagan Mohan Reddy with a small knife used in cockfight, at Visakhapatnam Airport on October 25, 2018. Jagan, then leader of opposition, had suffered injury on his arm.

The court was also told that accused Srinivas was not linked to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) or any other party.

The agency argued that since the trial had started in the court, there was no need for another investigation in the case.

As the counsel for Jagan Mohan Reddy sought time to present his arguments, the court adjourned the hearing to April 17. The chief minister’s counsel Venkateshwarlu on Monday presented his arguments as to why a detailed inquiry was needed in the case.

The court was told that the accused was sanctioned house site by Janmabhoomi Committee during Telugu Desam Party (TDP) rule. He wanted to know how a person with criminal background and links with TDP was given a job at the airport. Stating that this has raised many doubts, the counsel sought detailed investigation.

After the attack, the then TDP government had handed over the case to a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state police but Jagan Mohan Reddy had refused to record his statement saying he had no trust in agencies controlled by the state government.

Suspecting a conspiracy by the TDP, the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) had moved the state high court, seeking a probe by a central agency into the case. Based on the court direction, the Centre handed over the case to the NIA on December 31, 2018 and the agency registered the case on January 1, 2019.

Srinivas, who attacked Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy with a sharp knife at Visakhapatnam airport in October 2018, is in jail. His mother Savithri wrote a letter to Chief Justice of India, Justice N V Ramana, requesting him to release her son from the jail.

She said that her son was suffering in the jail as an accused and the crime was not confirmed against him. She further said that the case is not being investigated and regretted that her son had to suffer in jail without conviction.

She wanted the chief justice to intervene and see that her son is out of jail until the investigation is completed and the crime is proved.

The YSR Congress had alleged that the TDP had hatched a plan to eliminate Jagan Mohan Reddy through Srinivas, who used a small and sharp knife, which is tied to the fingers of a booster in the cock fights. Srinivas approached Jagan in the airport for a selfie and later used the sharp knife to stab him.

Though the TDP denied its role in the attack, the YSR Congress used it as one of its campaign points during the 2019 general elections. Surprisingly, after coming to power in the election, the YSR Congress did nothing to prove the case. Jagan Mohan Reddy, who became the chief minister subsequently, did not bother to get the investigation completed and the crime proved.

While the TDP heckles Jagan Mohan Reddy, referring to this case as the Kodi Kathi case, the accused is suffering in jail for four years. His mother made an appeal to the chief justice to do justice to her family.