Narendra Modi's brother Prahlad Modi protests at Lucknow airport

Prahlad Modi protests at Lucknow airport

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brother Prahlad Modi made a strike at Lucknow airport on Wednesday, alleging that police had not allowed his supporters to get there and arrested them.

Police have not denied the allegations. According to Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport's Additional General Manager (Operations) '' Bhupendra Singh, Prahlad Modi arrived in Lucknow on an Indigo flight around 4pm. He was sitting in the yard of the airport as he was unhappy with the police blocking his supporters from getting there, Singh said, adding that Prahlad Modi had left an hour and a half later.

Prahlad Modi told reports at the airport that he had come to Uttar Pradesh to participate in certain community programs in Sultanpur, Jaunpur and Pratapgarh. "After arriving here, I got to know that my fellow supporters had been arrested by Lucknow police and were staying at the police station. Efforts are now being made to open a case against them," he said.

Prahlad Modi said some police officers told him there was an "an order to this effect from the Prime Minister's Office". "I felt that it would not be right if my children (staff) were in prison and I’m free. Either I should let them go or stand by my fellow workers in their support so he went on strike at the airport. Some police officers came here and said there was an order for this result by the Office of the Prime Minister and I want to see a copy of the order," Modi said.

"Goondagardi will not help the local government, " he added. Prahlad Modi said if the police did not give him a copy of the order, he would go to the High Court. Meanwhile, Sarojini Nagar police station SHO Mahendra Singh said he had no information about Modi fans. No arrests have been made in our area, Singh said, adding that some such reports came from the Sultanpur district but he was unaware of it. When asked if he knew where Prahlad Modi went after leaving the airport, Singh said, "I have no such information and even if we did, it would be kept confidential."

Sultanpur SP Arvind Chaturvedi also denied the allegations. However, a new man has been arrested for allegedly raising money on behalf of the Prime Minister's brother in Sultanpur. Sultanpur police have received information from the Prime Minister’s office that Jitendra Tiwari, also known as Jitu, was involved in a forgery on behalf of the Prime Minister's brother, SHO (City) Bhupendra Singh. Holding on to the entry, Tiwari was arrested near Vikas Bhavan on Monday, he said, adding that the defendant's car had a poster for the prime minister's brother program in Madhavpur on February 4. BJP Sultanpur president R A Verma had said a boy had approached him but did not please him.