AP: 4 Cong Workers Held for Releasing Black Balloons Near PM's Chopper

Krishna district: Four Congress workers were arrested in Krishna district for releasing black balloons near Gannavaram airport when the chopper carrying Prime Minister Narendra Modi took off on Monday. One more Congress worker is absconding.

The police detained the Congress and Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti workers who had gathered near the airport in the morning. The Congress and MRPS workers were gathered to protest against the Centre for not granting Special Category Status to the state.  

Vijay Pal, DSP, Krishna district said four Congress workers have been arrested and a few more are yet to be arrested. “The four arrested Congress workers will be produced before the court,” he said. 

As per media reports, two Congress workers released four sets of black balloons when they noticed two choppers were approaching the top of the under construction building they perched upon. There was tight security in and around the airport but the under construction building was far away from the airport from where the balloons were released. 

Black balloons were released earlier today, 4 July, to protest PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Andhra Pradesh. The symbolic protest was held near Gannavaram airport. ⁦@TheQuint⁩ pic.twitter.com/Pn2HTk0E7i

— Nikhila Henry (@NikhilaHenry) July 4, 2022

“Earlier in the morning, we had taken into preventive custody Mahila Congress chief Sunkarna Padmasri and several Congress workers from near the airport as they wanted to release the balloons. We also detained some Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti activists as they also wanted to protest. Representatives of the two parties said they wanted to protest over the Centre not giving special category status to Andhra Pradesh,” the state DGP KV Rajendranath Reddy said. 

Also Read: Give State Autonomy to Tamil Nadu, Don’t Force us to Seek Independent Country, DMK MP A Raja

The police said there was no security breach during PM Modi’s arrival at Gannavaram airport as the balloons were released five minutes after PM's departure from the airport via chopper.