Shankar Rao now seeks Jagan's release

HYDERABAD: In a volte-face, former minister and Cantonment MLA P Shankar Rao, whose letter led to a CBI inquiry into the disproportionate assets of Y S Jaganmohan Reddy and his subsequent arrest, on Tuesday demanded the release of the Kadapa MP from jail.
Rao's letter had led to the CBI inquiring into allegations that Jaganmohan Reddy had amassed wealth through land allotments made to industrialists by his father late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy when he was chief minister.
Now, Shankar Rao has set a deadline of a fortnight for the CBI to file its final chargesheet in the case so that the YSR Congress president can get bail.
"Jagan is my son's classmate. I am against his corrupt deeds, but also sympathise with him as he has been lodged in jail for a very long time. He is like my son," Rao told reporters on the assembly premises. The MLA said that he would file a PIL if the CBI fails to submit its final chargesheet by September 9.
Rao, however, disapproved of Jaganmohan Reddy's indefinite fast opposing Telangana in Chanchalguda jail and demanded action against those who were responsible for the fast. Such incidents would set a bad precedent and prompt inmates across the country to resort to such protests, he warned.
The MLA said that he would protest before the jail if Jaganmohan Reddy was not stopped from continuing his fast.