Pawan Kalyan remains confined to hotel; Visakhapatnam still tense
The situation in the port city of Visakhapatnam continued to remain tense for the second day on Sunday as the Andhra Pradesh Police prohibited Telugu film star and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief K Pawan Kalyan from addressing rallies and meetings.
A large number of his followers assembled outside the Novotel hotel near the beach to catch a glimpse of the JSP leader, who was issued a notice by Visakhapatnam Assistant Commissioner of Police (East) Harshita Chandra.
The actor waved at the crowd from the sixth floor of the hotel in which he is staying.
Protests break out in Vishakhapatnam – What is the three capital row raging in Andhra Pradesh?
“Hope, AP police won’t tell me not to greet from my room’s window,” tweeted Pawan, sharing a video of the view from his room.
“Our beloved AP police under the Eminent Leadership of CM Sri Thanos barred me not to hold Jana Sena programs, no rallies, no meetings. Left me with this option only… from my room window,” said the actor in another tweet.
“A thought just crossed my mind… am I allowed to go for an evening walk on RK beach to take some fresh air,” he posted.
For the unversed, a mob attacked the convoys of state minister RK Roja and some other YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leaders at Visakhapatnam airport on Saturday evening. The incident took place when a huge number of Jana Sena supporters assembled to welcome Pawan Kalyan, who was landing in the city, just as YSRCP leaders were leaving following a rally organised by the ruling party in favour of three state capitals.
Pawan Kalyan, a supporter of Amaravati as the only state capital, arrived in Visakhapatnam on Saturday evening to participate in a ‘Jana Vani’ programme to address the grievances of the people of the north Andhra region.
After landing at the airport, Pawan Kalyan left for the hotel in a rally attended by hundreds of his party members and fans. He was allegedly forced not to wave at the crowd while standing on his vehicle by the police, who resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the participants.
Pawan Kalyan has been confined to the hotel since Saturday evening. In order to control JSP workers and fans who had reached the hotel, a large number of policemen were deployed outside the premises.
On Sunday, police served a notice directing him not to address any meetings or rallies due to the prohibitory orders. Additionally, police blamed him for the incident at the airport, reported news agency IANS.
Nevertheless, Pawan Kalyan denied this and criticised the police for their high-handed behaviour.
A total of 28 JSP leaders and workers have been arrested in connection with the attack on the minister and leaders of the YSRCP. A police report was filed on the complaint of minister Roja’s assistant. According to the complaint, 300 workers of Jana Sena resorted to the attack.
Another case of damage to government property and vehicles was filed by the police.
