22 held by police in Lucknow ahead of PM Narendra Modi's visit

Lucknow: Twenty two persons were detained by the police, hours before the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, over apprehensions that there may be an attempt to block his convoy or create some other kind of disturbance.

We have detained 22 persons apprehending that they might breach security during today's VVIP visit," Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deepak Kumar said.

Those detained included some youth leaders belonging to the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Earlier during a visit by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the Lucknow University on June 7, a number of students had blocked his cavalcade, raised slogans and waved black flags.

As Adityanath's cavalcade moved towards the varsity campus, where he had been invited as the chief guest at a programme on Chhatrapati Shivaji, activists from the SP 'Chhatra Sabha' and other outfits squatted on the road and raised black flags.

The police had a tough time in controlling the protesters.

Last year in January, when Prime Minister Modi visited the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar University here, he too was greeted with protests as soon as he began speaking at the event.

The protesting students were, however, made to leave the auditorium.

The security agencies have tried to make fool proof arrangements this time during the PM's two-day visit to the city.

While plying of vehicles will be restricted prior to the PM's movement, security forces have been deployed in a comprehensive way and CCTV cameras have been installed to keep an eye on any suspicious activity.