Ooty: The protest by media persons against the highhanded behavior of police and army officials rocked the army centre at Wellington, a couple of hours before the arrival of President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday.
When media persons entered the function venue at 12.30 pm, officers on duty there refused to permit them to carry mobile phones to the auditorium.
When reporters protested, police officers on duty said that these were instructions from Mr Murali Rambha, SP of Nilgiris. As the media then threatened to boycott the proceedings, police officers quickly blamed army officials for the instructions.
There was a noisy quarrel between media persons and army officers and all 70-odd media persons began to walk out. At that point, Mr Kulkarnai, a senior army officer came to talk with the media persons and apologised. He told media persons that they would be allowed to carry mobile phones inside the auditorium, thus ending the impasse.
