Two journalists arrested for posting ‘derogatory’ video against Telangana CM
A third person, who has an X account with the username, NippuKodi, has also been detained for sharing the video, police said.
The Telangana Police on Wednesday arrested two journalists — Pogadadanda Revathi, the managing director of Pulse News, and Thanvi Yadav, a reporter for the same channel — for allegedly posting and amplifying abusive content against chief minister A Revanth Reddy, officers aware of the matter said on Wednesday.
A third person, who has an X account with the username, NippuKodi, has also been detained for sharing the video, they added.
All three were taken into custody following a complaint filed by the chief of the state Congress’s social media unit for publishing obscene material to organised crime and criminal conspiracy, spreading rumours to incite hatred, and provoking a breach of peace, police said.
The video was allegedly shot at Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) headquarters in Hyderabad, they added.
The complaint is against the video, circulated on the micro-blogging site, in which a Pulse News reporter interviews an individual, who allegedly makes “derogatory” and “abusive” remarks about the CM, police said.
In his complaint, the Congress leader said that the post was “highly provocative” with the potential to incite violence and was a “deliberate attempt” by the Pulse TV to defame and spread propaganda.
Police said that the duo, who were involved in “social media trolling”, have been remanded in judicial custody for 14 days, and added that they also had two previous cases registered against them.
P Viswaprasad, the additional commissioner of police (crimes and SIT), said, “The alleged video was shot at BRS headquarters in Banjara Hills in February and released on March 10, just ahead of the budget session, as per an orchestrated plan to insult, defame, and abuse the CM. The content of the video is vulgar, derogatory, insulting, and abusive, crossing all levels of decency. The accused have been doing this repeatedly and posting on social media for fame and views. We have evidence that they have received monetary incentives from the BRS. We will investigate every aspect.”
The officer said that the person who was interviewed and hurled abuses at the chief minister would be identified and booked too. “The YouTube channel has been operational for the last two months, and as part of a plan, the reporter has been provoking people to hurl abuses at the CM,” he said.
Reacting to the arrest, BRS leader KT Rama Rao accused the Congress of being “intolerant of criticism” and allowing an “extreme level of intolerance”.
“It feels like a state of Emergency’ has returned in Telangana...” he posted on X on Wednesday morning.
(With agency inputs)