Hyderabad, Mar 13: Hyderabad police arrested the managing director of an online news channel and a reporter on Wednesday for allegedly circulating a video with “derogatory and abusive” remarks against the Telangana government and Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
The video, allegedly filmed at a Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) office, surfaced on social media on March 10, just ahead of the Telangana Assembly’s budget session. Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police arrested P Revathi, the channel’s managing director, and reporter B Sandhya under sections of the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes & SIT) P Viswaprasad stated that the media house had been involved in producing and widely circulating the content. “Our investigation found that the channel provoked individuals, including senior citizens, to make disrespectful remarks against the CM. The arrests follow clear evidence of an orchestrated attempt to defame the government,” he said. Police have seized laptops, hard disks, and CPUs from the media office.
BRS working president KT Rama Rao criticized the arrests, accusing the Congress government of stifling press freedom. “Kya yahi hain aap ki ‘Mohabbat ki Dukaan’? @RahulGandhi ji? Arresting two women journalists in the wee hours of the morning! What is their crime? Giving voice to public opinion?” Rao posted on X.
According to the police, a Congress Social Media Cell member filed a complaint after coming across the video online. The video featured an unidentified individual making abusive comments against the Telangana CM, allegedly in a planned effort to spread false propaganda. Authorities warned that such content could incite divisions and disturb law and order.
Revathi, who had earlier faced two criminal cases, defended her team’s work. “DON’T SHARE THIS VIDEO PLEASE!!! CASES WILL BE FILED,” she posted on X. “My team interviewed an elderly man who voiced his frustration. Now the Telangana Congress is filing cases, and the police are religiously registering FIRs against those sharing the video.”
Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police urged citizens to be cautious about sharing defamatory or provocative content, warning that targeting public figures online is a punishable offense. Revathi and Sandhya have been remanded in judicial custody.
