The Andhra Pradesh Police took Janasena party president Pawan Kalyan into preventive custody in the NTR district as high drama unfolded late Saturday night, with the actor-turned-politician lying on the road to protest against the police stopping his convoy at the Telangana-Andhra border.
Pawan Kalyan was headed towards Vijayawada to support Telugu Desam Party chief N Chandrababu Naidu, who was arrested in a pre-dawn operation at Nandyala on Saturday. He initially tried to reach Andhra through airways but Krishna district police ensured his special flight to Gannavaram airport did not take off from Hyderabad.
The JSP chief then opted to take the road route but his convoy was blocked in the NTR district twice on Saturday, forcing Kalyan to alight from his vehicle and walk towards Mangalagiri in Vijayawada. On being blocked from heading towards Vijayawada, Kalyan laid and on the road at Anumanchipalli.
“We have taken Kalyan and Manohar into preventive custody. We are taking them to Vijayawada,” Nandigama Sub-Divisional Police Officer Janardhan Naidu told PTI.
Pawan Kalyan earlier condemned the arrest of Chandrababu Naidu in connection with an alleged multi-crore corruption case. He also took a veiled swipe at Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jaganmohan Reddy and said incidents were “unfortunate in a democracy”.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Kalyan said, “The manner in which the former chief minister was arrested today is sad. We condemn in the strictest terms the way the state authorities and the ruling party are making arrests on the orders of one leader (CM Jagan).”
Naidu’s arrest sparked angry protests from party cadres across the state and widespread condemnation from political parties opposed to the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). In Konaseema, the police personnel stopped Naidu’s son and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh from travelling to Nandyal, who then squatted on the road in protest.
Meanwhile, Naidu was brought to the government hospital in Andhra Pradesh’s Vijayawada in the early hours of Sunday for medical checkup.
