Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh) [India], July 2 : Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday met the family of Perapogu Kranthi Kumar, a taxi driver who allegedly died by suicide due to police harassment, and accused the state government of presiding over a "jungle raj" while alleging a larger conspiracy behind recent incidents involving the police.
Addressing the media after meeting the bereaved family, Reddy alleged that the state's law and order situation had deteriorated and drew parallels between two recent incidents, a custodial death and the alleged suicide of the taxi driver.
Alleging Andhra Pradesh is witnessing 'jungle raj' under the present government and citing two recent incidents to question the state's law and order situation, Reddy said,
"The term 'jungle raj' should not be attributed to some state like Bihar, but it should be attributed to Andhra Pradesh, which is governed by Chandrababu's regime. The kind of atrocities you see taking place reflects the same 'jungle raj' which is often heard of. Two incidents took place in the heart of the city. One was a death in a lockup, and the other was a suicide due to the atrocities of the police. These two cases reflect a degraded law and order situation in the state," he said.
Claiming that crucial evidence had gone missing and alleging a larger conspiracy involving the police, the YSRCP chief further said, "The video footage from the police station is missing. A bigger conspiracy is at play. This kind of cartelized syndicate murders using police...Why is the Chief Minister silent?"
Perapogu Kranthi Kumar, who worked as a taxi driver, allegedly died by suicide due to police harassment.
On June 20, YSRCP demanded that the Vijayawada Police Commissioner should be held responsible for the deaths of Sai Krishna and Kranthi Kumar, and a CBI investigation should be ordered to bring out the actual facts.
Speaking to the media, former minister Perni Nani said, just booking a case against an inspector does not answer the question, but the higher-ups should also be made responsible for the act, and only an independent agency can find out why the case was put under wraps for 40-odd days, and no action is visible even after the FIR.