Capital ruckus: Visakhapatnam police ask Pawan Kalyan to leave, serve notice

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam police ordered Jana Sena chief and other leaders of the party to leave the city by 4 pm on Sunday, citing a sensitive law and order situation in the wake of political unrest here since Saturday evening. A notice under Section 41 A has been served on Pawan Kalyan at the Novotel hotel where he has been staying since his arrival in the port city on Saturday.

While the Jana Sena views this as part of a concerted attempt to pre-empt its Jana Vani programme, the police have cited a few violent incidents at the airport in which the vehicles of a few ministers were attacked allegedly by the Jana Sena activists who participated in a procession after welcoming Pawan Kalyan into the city.

The day witnessed protracted negotiations at the Novotel hotel until the notices were served on the Jana Sena chief. Senior police officials held deliberations with Pawan Kalyan and other key leaders of the party. Earlier in the day, the police asked Pawan Kalyan to give up his idea of going to the Jana Vani venue in a procession of vehicles. Flatly rejecting the proposal, Pawan Kalyan announced the cancellation of the programme, claiming that they would hold it back until their activists were released.

The Jana Sena chief also tweeted condemning the police for putting him under a house-arrest-like confinement through the day.

Before serving the notice too, the police officials reportedly advised Pawan Kalyan to suspend his proposed three-day visit and leave the city in view of the delicate law and order situation. They reportedly tried to impress upon him about the surcharged mood following the JAC's Visakha Garjana held on Saturday and the incidents that happened after the arrival of the Jana Sena leader.

The Jana Sena chief finally relented and agreed to receive the notices but only in the presence of the media, which he eventually did.

According to reports, the police were determined to even detain Pawan Kalyan if he refused to comply with their orders and leave the city. In a clear indication to this effect, Pawan Kalyan, during a press meet held on Sunday morning, announced the cancellation of his Jana Vani programme while launching a tirade against the police and Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy.

Stormy scenes at Novotel

A high drama prevailed at the Novotel hotel since late Saturday night with a heavy posse of policemen storming the floor where Pawan Kalyan was staying and detaining scores of Jana Sena activists. Pawan Kalyan, during his Sunday morning press meet, claimed that more than a hundred activists and leaders of his party were arrested during the Saturday night raid.

Jana Sena leaders Sundarapu Vijay Kumar, P V S N Raju, Dr Viswaksen, Palavalasa Yasashwini, Panchakarla Sandeep, Gedela Chaitanya and Vasu were among those arrested in connection with the case of attacks near the airport. Cases were registered under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC against all of them. The accused were identified based on the footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity of the airport.

Jana Sainiks resorted to violence: Vizag CP

Earlier on Sunday, justifying the arrests, Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Ch Srikanth said that more than 300 Jana Sena leaders and activists assembled unlawfully, without securing any permission at the airport. YSRCP leaders including Minister R K Roja were abused and the accused pelted stones and carried out the attack with party flag sticks and metal weapons with a criminal intent to kill, he added.

Besides damaging public peace, they also vandalised government assets. In all, they violated 30 police act rules and even attacked Pendurthi police including the ASI. A few innocent civilians sustained injuries while more than 30 passengers missed their flights due to the ruckus created by the Jana Sena activists, the CP said. Cases have been registered against the Jana Sena activists who were responsible for the violence at the airport, said the commissioner.

Politicians trade barbs

Even as Visakhapatnam simmered on, the war of words continued between the YSRCP and the TDP. Nara Chandrababu Naidu, the TDP chief, and his son Nara Lokesh, strongly condemned the arrest of Jana Sena activists while terming it undemocratic. Demanding their immediate release, Chandrababu Naidu wondered how the police could decide if a leader should sit inside his vehicle or come out and greet his followers.

Lokesh in his tweet alleged that the Visakha Garjana ended as a flop show and sulking over it, the YSRCP leaders tried to take it out on the Jana Sena activists.

BJP's Andhra Pradesh chief Somu Veerraju and its leader Vishnuvardhan Reddy too deplored the police crackdown on the Jana Sena activists.

On the other hand, a battery of YSRCP ministers and MLAs went hammer and tongs against Pawan Kalyan for destroying Visakhapatnam's fabric of peace for his vested political interests. Minister Botsa Satyanarana, addressing a press conference convened by the Visakha JAC, asked the people if they really needed to take notice of parties like Jana Sena and TDP which, he alleged, were acting against the interests of the North Andhra region. Asserting that any party that came in the way of the region's development would be regarded as its adversary, he called upon the people to reject the two political entities that are supporting the cause of Amaravati.

Meanwhile, a large number of women activists under the aegis of the Visakha JAC staged a protest here against Pawan Kalyan's campaign against the three-capitals plan. Calling him 'Uttarandhra drohi' (a traitor of North Andhra region), they beat up his posters with footwear to express their resentment. The women protesters also condemned the rowdy behaviour of Jana Sena activists and their attack on the vehicles of a few ministers at the airport on Saturday night.