The journalists were detained on a complaint from the head of the Congress’ state social media department, and are charged with serious offences – ranging from printing obscene content to organised crime.
Two Telangana reporters – Pulse News Managing Director Pogadadanda Revathi and the channel’s reporter Thanvi Yadav – were arrested by Hyderabad Police’s Cyber Crime branch Wednesday for posting and sharing purportedly abusive material against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Another person – an X account user with the handle ‘NippuKodi’ – has also been taken into custody. All three were arrested following a complaint lodged by the Congress’ state social media head, and have serious charges – ranging from dissemination of obscene content to organised crime and criminal conspiracy, spreading rumour to promote enmity, and triggering a breach of peace.
The complaint was that a video from the X account, where an individual is being interviewed by a Pulse News journalist, made “derogatory” and “abusive” comments against the Chief Minister. This was said to amount to a “highly provocative” post that had the possibility of leading to violence and amounts to a “deliberate attempt on behalf of Pulse TV to defame and disseminate propaganda”.
The detentions have, however, led to strong indignation from opposition BRS, which ruled before the Congress’ dramatic victory in 2023. In a conversation with NDTV, BRS’ KT Rama Rao charged the Congress with being “intolerant of criticism” and having “an extreme level of intolerance”.
“It’s a state of emergency, and it is back in Telangana,” he stated. In a lengthy X post today, Mr Rao alleged Ms Revathi was arrested illegally, including police raiding her house at 5 am and demonstrating the Congress’ “Emergency-style rule”. He also termed Ms Yadav’s arrest as “atrocious” and condemned the absence of press freedom in Telangana.
