"All parties against me" says Jagan Reddy, alleges BJP link to Visakhapatnam drug seizure
Mar 28, 2024
Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], March 28 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday dismissed any connections to the seizure of a huge consignment of narcotics at the Visakhapatnam port earlier this month.
Stating that the opposition has falsely accused YSRCP, he alleged that the company belongs to the father-in-law of the state BJP President, Purandeshwari's sons.
Speaking about the case, the Andhra Chief Minister said, "Recently, the CBI caught a drug container in Visakhapatnam, which arrived from Brazil. All opposition parties are falsely accusing the YSRCP. However, the company belongs to the father-in-law of the state BJP President, Purandeshwari's sons. They were previously associated with the company."
"If any crime occurs, they (opposition) falsely accuse the YSRCP. Even NTR was betrayed," said Reddy.
The YSRCP chief also said, "Chandrababu and his associates have received direct support from one national party and indirect support from another. They have even managed to gain support from my sister against me. I am alone. All these parties have allied to fight against me. I only have the support of the public and God."
The seizure of a huge volume of drugs from a container at Visakhapatnam port sparked controversy in the state ahead of the elections.
While opposition parties blamed the YSRCP, the ruling party in Andhra Pradesh charged that the management of the company involved in the import of the suspected contraband had links with the BJP and TDP leaders.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) detained a shipping container containing 1000 bags of inactive dried yeast of 25 kg each, totalling 25000 kg, at the Visakhapatnam Port earlier this month.
According to an eight-page report filed by the CBI, the plastic bags in the container contained pale yellow powder which was subjected to examination under the NCB Narcotic Drugs Detection Kit to identify the presence of any narcotic substance.
As per the defined procedure for the identification of the presence of cocaine or methadone by Test E and the presence of opium as per Tests A and B for the presence of "marijuana, hashish, and hashish' oil, the NCB drug detection kit was used.
During examination by the drug detection kit, the Test E colour indicative of the positive result of cocaine or methaqualone came positive for all 20 bags taken out randomly from each of the 20 pallets.
On being asked, the importer's representative feigned innocence and informed the CBI sleuths that they had imported this item for the first time and were unaware of its composition.
"During the process of examination, various officers of the Andhra Pradesh government and port employees gathered at the site, causing a delay in the CBI proceedings," said the CBI's report.