Attack on Jagan: AP CM blames Centre for "hatching

Hours after the attack on YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu Thursday targeted the Centre, accusing it of "hatching conspiracies" against his government.

The YSR congress leader was injured when he was attacked by a man with a small knife at the airport lounge in Visakhapatnam.

Hitting out at the Centre, Naidu said the attack took place in the VIP lounge in the afternoon and maintained that the state government had no jurisdiction over it.

"The airport is under the government of India's control. If something happened outside, the state government would have been responsible but since it happened inside, whose responsibility is it," the chief minister said, addressing a conference of district collectors here.

He pointed out that the YSR congress leader had left for Hyderabad soon after the incident.

"Ascertaining how the incident happened is part of the investigation process but if the injured person goes away, how could our police go to another state and conduct the probe," he asked.

How would it be possible to investigate the case without a medical certificate, he said.

"It's all an effort to divert my focus. They may have partly succeeded in that but they cannot succeed completely. How to prevent us from working seems to be the Centre's thought behind hatching such conspiracies," Naidu said.

In a veiled reference to YSR congress' allegation that the ruling Telugu Desam Party was behind the attack, Naidu asked how should it be understood when the same person, who wrote a letter flaying the state government and also put up flex banners proclaiming to be a Jagan Mohan Reddy fan, indulged in the attack.