Two women journalists from Telangana’s Pulse News, Managing Director Pogadadanda Revathi and reporter Thanvi Yadav, were arrested by Hyderabad Police’s Cyber Crime Division over a social media post allegedly containing derogatory remarks about Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Two journalists from a Telangana-based news channel were arrested on Wednesday by Hyderabad Police’s Cyber Crime Division for allegedly publishing objectionable content about Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. The arrested journalists have been identified as Pogadadanda Revathi, the Managing Director of Pulse News, and Thanvi Yadav, a reporter with the same channel. A third person, believed to be the user of an X account named ‘NippuKodi’, has also been taken into custody in connection with the case.
The arrests were made following a complaint filed by the Congress party’s Telangana social media unit, alleging that a video shared on social media carried derogatory and provocative remarks about the Chief Minister. The video in question reportedly features an interview conducted by a Pulse News journalist with a person who makes abusive statements against Revanth Reddy. According to the complainant, the content was “highly provocative” and intended to “defame and spread propaganda” against the Congress government in the state. The FIR invokes multiple sections, including those related to publishing obscene material, criminal conspiracy, inciting hatred, and disturbing public order.
The move has drawn sharp criticism from the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which accused the Congress of muzzling press freedom. Former minister and senior BRS leader KT Rama Rao condemned the arrests, calling them an act of “extreme intolerance to criticism.”
“It feels like a state of Emergency has returned in Telangana,” Rao said in a post on X, describing Ms Revathi’s arrest as illegal and alleging that her home was raided at 5 am. He termed Yadav’s arrest “atrocious” and said the action reflects the Congress government’s disregard for press freedom. Rao also questioned whether this is the “constitutional rule” that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi often refers to in his speeches. In another post, he took a swipe at Gandhi, alluding to the Congress leader’s symbolic use of the Constitution during election campaigns.
The BJP, too, hit out at the Congress over the arrests. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “A senior journalist has been arrested for the crime of showing the frustration and plight of farmers under the Congress rule in Telangana.”
Interestingly, Revathi had been arrested in a similar case during the tenure of the previous BRS government, an episode that had also sparked a political backlash at the time.
