Lucknow: Prahlad Damodar Das Modi, the brother of Prime Minister Narendra Modi brother, sat on a dharna outside Chowdhary Charan Singh Airport on Wednesday to protest against the arrest of his supporters who came to receive him.
After getting an assurance from senior police officials, he, however, ended his dharna and fast.
Prahlad had arrived in Lucknow on a three-day tour of Uttar Pradesh to attend the Yoga Social Society (YSS) functions in Sultanpur, Jaipur, and Pratapgarh.
When Prahlad Modi came out of the airport following arrival at around 3 PM, he was told that a large number of his supporters had come to the airport to welcome and receive him but that they were arrested by the Lucknow Police.
Before his arrival, the Lucknow Police had detained his supporters for violating Section 144 for assembly at the high security zone in the airport.
Infuriated over the arrest of his supporters, Prahlad Modi, who is a patron of the Yoga Social Society, sat on a dharna and started the fast. Initially, the police tried to convince him to end the dharna as his supporters were only detained and not arrested in violation of Section 144. The police also assured him that no cases will be registered against them.
Prahlad Modi claimed the police told him that his supporters were arrested on the orders of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).
“They did not show me any copy of the order. What kind of rowdyism is this that the Uttar Pradesh Police arrests just anyone without any reason?” he questioned.
When the Prime Minister's brother refused to budge and continued with his dharna, senior police officials rushed to the airport to persuade him. He continued his fast for about two hours and on seeing the situation get out of hand, especially after the arrival of TV crews and mediapersons, the senior police officials agreed to release the detained supporters.
It was only after the assurance from senior police officials for the release of his supporters and no registration of cases that the Prime Minister's brother left the airport for Sultanpur.
Before leaving the airport, he took a jibe at the functioning of the Uttar Pradesh Police alleging that it was trying to "tarnish the image of the PMO by misusing its name.”
Earlier, the Prime Minister's brother had held a similar dharna in Jaipur on May 14, 2019, when he was denied a separate vehicle for his security detail. He sat on a dharna for one hour and ended it only after much persuasion from senior police officials.
