YSR Congress MP held for slapping Air India official

A YSR Congress Party MP was arrested on Sunday on charges of slapping an Air India official at the Tirupati airport in November.

P. Mithun Reddy and another accused, Madhusudhan Reddy, were detained at Chennai airport early Sunday and handed over to Andhra Pradesh.

The MP and his aide were brought to Tirupati where they were produced before a magistrate who sent them to judicial custody for 14 days.

Mithun Reddy is a member of the Lok Sabha from Rajampet in Kadapa district.

A case for assaulting a public servant on duty was filed against Mithun Reddy and 15 others at Yerpedu police station at Renigunta near Tirupati on November 27 last year.

The case was registered on a complaint by Rajasekhar, Air India's station manager at the airport.

Mithun Reddy allegedly entered into an argument with Rajasekhar after the latter declined to issue boarding passes to him and his relatives as the boarding was already closed for the Air India flight to Delhi.

The MP had since evaded police interrogation. His anticipatory bail petition was also rejected by a court.

Earlier, YSRCP state legislator Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy was arrested in the same case and was later released on bail.

Meanwhile, police in Pileru in Chittoor district arrested over 100 supporters of the MP when they were heading towards Tirupati to express solidarity with him.

The opposition party also staged a sit-in on the Tirupati-Chennai highway to protest against the MP's arrest.

Mithun Reddy's father and YSRCP legislator Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy said his son did nothing wrong. He was confident they will get justice in the court.

Party MP Y.V. Subba Reddy alleged that Mithun Reddy's arrest was a conspiracy against the YSRCP. He dared the government to make public the CCTV footage recorded at the airport when the incident occurred.