APD Denies Involvement In The Visakhapatnam Airport Issue

A week after TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy created a ruckus at Visakhapatnam airport, reports surfaced yesterday that IndiGo Airlines submitted a report stating they were arm-bent by the Airport Director to allow the MP to board their flight, after initially denying him the same. But the APD denies the reports and states he had not helped the MP board the flight.

On Tuesday, Vizag APD G Prakash Reddy reportedly stated that neither he nor Civil Aviation Minister Ashok Gajapati Raju had forced the airlines to issue a boarding pass for the MP. The APD says that the Civil Aviation Minister was at the airport at the time of the incident, when the MP arrived at 7:40 AM to board the flight. He however denies any knowledge of the incident, from his side and the Civil Aviation Minister’s side too.

When asked by reporters that the IndiGo report stated that the APD forced the airlines to submit a boarding pass, he repeated the statement that neither he nor the Civil Aviation Minister had intervened in the matter. They claim to have knowledge of the incident only after it had occurred and the MP had already boarded the flight.

Even as the debate continues, the MP had gone abroad on a vacation with his family. TDP MLA Prabhakar Reddy, brother of MP JC Diwakar Reddy confirmed the same and stated that the vacation was planned well in advance and had nothing to do with the incident. Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu has reportedly expressed unhappiness over the MP’s behaviour and asked public leaders to exercise restraint.