By Express News Service
VIJAYAWADA: In what is termed as a security breach by the State BJP unit, a group of Congress leaders released black balloons into the air as a protest against the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the State without fulfilling the assurances he made before the elections. Police, however, said there was no security breach and arrested four Congress leaders for the protest.
The AP Congress Committee (APCC) gave a call to release black balloons into the air as a mark of protest against the failure of the Centre to fulfill the assurances made to the State during Modi’s visit to the State.
After finishing his two-day visit to Hyderabad, Narendra Modi arrived at Gannavaram airport in the morning where Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, and other officials welcomed him grandly.
From there, the dignitaries were supposed to reach Amiram village near Bhimavaram in Mi-17 choppers to take part in the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of revolutionary freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju.
#WATCH | A Congress worker released black balloons moments after PM Modi’s chopper took off, during his visit to Andhra Pradesh.(Source: unverified) pic.twitter.com/ZYRlAyUcZK
— ANI (@ANI) July 4, 2022
Minutes before Modi’s arrival, Congress workers Sunkara Padmashree and two others were seen walking toward the airport holding placards and black balloons to stage a protest against BJP and Modi.
“Immediately, we took three Congress leaders Sunkara Padmashree, Challa Savithri, and Kishore into our custody and booked them under sections 353, 341, 188, and 145 of IPC,” Krishna district SP P Jashuva told TNIE.
However, some other leaders managed to release black balloons from the terrace of a building while the choppers carrying Modi and others took off.
Responding to this, BJP State president Somu Veerraju suspected a ‘bigger conspiracy’ behind the release of balloons when three dignitaries including the Prime Minister, Chief Minister, and Governor were taking off and demanded a detailed probe into the incident. Veerraju said he would lodge a complaint with the Union Home Ministry.
Meanwhile, Gannavaram police arrested four Congress leaders for releasing black balloons while a hunt is on to nab another person Rajiv Ratan who was said to be the mastermind behind the idea of releasing balloons.
Though there was no damage the incident triggered panic as the balloons allegedly reached close to the chopper in which Narendra Modi and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy were travelling. “This will be viewed as a breach of security of the Prime Minister. The Special Protection Group (SPG), Intelligence, and other agencies are probing how the Congress workers managed to enter the premises where the security cover was in place,” said a senior official.
Clarifying that there is no breach of security during PM Modi’s visit to Gannavaram airport, Krishna district Superintendent of Police Jashuva explained that two Congress leaders Rajeev Ratan and Ravi Prakash climbed an under-construction apartment which is 4.6 kilometers away from the airport and released balloons five minutes after the departure of Prime Minister.
“Five minutes after Narendra Modi’s chopper took off from Gannavaram airport, at a place named Soorampalli, 4.5 kilometers away from the airport, Rajeev Ratan and Ravi Prakash climbed an under-construction apartment and released the balloons.
By the time they released the balloons, the chopper attained maximum height and there are no chances of balloons going close to the chopper and turning out a danger for VIPs,” he observed.
While Ravi Prakash has been taken into custody, police teams formed to trace the absconding Rajeev Ratan. “The police are on the lookout for him,” he said adding that 350 personnel were placed for Narendra Modi’s security and anti-domination teams were deployed three kilometres around the airport to avoid any untoward incident.