YSR Congress party on Friday moved the Hyderabad high court seeking a thorough probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the knife attack on party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy by a restaurant worker at the airport in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam a day earlier.

Former YSRC MP from Ongole Y V Subba Reddy, who filed petition in the high court, requested that the Central Industrial Security Force authorities manning the Visakhapatnam airport be directed to give a comprehensive report on the attack and the case be handed over to the CBI for an impartial inquiry.

A separate petition with a similar demand was filed by Jagan’s followers P Anil Kumar and Amarnath Reddy seeking an urgent hearing. The petition is expected to come up for hearing in the afternoon, a party leader familiar with the development said.

Jagan was injured on his left arm when the assailant identified as Janipalli Srinivas Rao attacked him with a knife used in cockfights while asking for a selfie with the former at the airport lounge. After getting first aid from the doctors at the airport, Jagan immediately left for Hyderabad, where he got admitted to a private hospital.

Doctors who noticed a deep cut on his arm applied nine stitches and have kept him under observation in the hospital for three days. His blood samples were sent to Mumbai for examination to rule out the possibility of any poisoning.

Subba Reddy said it was a clear case of attempt on the Jagan’s life. He alleged that the state government was deliberately trying to play down the incident and dilute the investigation.

“Within an hour of the incident, director general of police R P Thakur declared that the assailant was a worker of YSR Congress party. In another couple of hours, the Telugu Desam Party leaders came out with a poster showing Srinivas posing with Jagan. Later in the evening, the police released a letter purportedly seized from the assailant, in which he claimed to be a fan of Jagan. All these incidents clearly show that the government was diluting the investigation,” Reddy said.

He alleged that the TDP leadership had masterminded the attack and was trying to shift the blame on the YSRC, saying that Jagan was trying to gain sympathy of the people before the elections.

“In this case, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu is accused no. 1, while the DGP is accused no. 2. Therefore, we demand that the investigation be handed over to a third party for an impartial probe,” Reddy asserted.

Meanwhile, a special CBI court in Hyderabad granted exemption to Jagan from attending the trial on Friday in connection with an alleged quid-pro-quo case against him. His counsel filed an affidavit in the court, saying Jagan was not in a position to attend the court as he was admitted to a hospital following the knife attack.

The YSRC president, who has been on a marathon padayatra (foot march) for nearly a year, has been attending the trial in the Hyderabad court every Friday.