Two Telangana journalists – Pulse News MD Pogadanda Revathi and reporter Thanvi Yadav of the same channel – were arrested on Wednesday by the Cyber Crime Division of Hyderabad police for allegedly posting and promoting derogatory content against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. A third person – a user of the X account named 'Nippukodi' – has also been detained.
The three were detained following a complaint by the head of the Congress' state social media unit and have been charged with serious offences ranging from publishing obscene material to organised crime and criminal conspiracy, spreading rumours to incite hatred and disturbing the peace.
The complaint is regarding a video on account X, in which a reporter from Pulse News interviewed a man who allegedly made “derogatory” remarks about the Chief Minister.
It argued that it was a "highly inflammatory" post, could incite violence and was a "deliberate attempt by Pulse TV to defame and spread propaganda".
The arrests have been sharply criticised by the opposition BRS, which was in power before the Congress's big win in 2023. Speaking to NDTV, BRS's KT Rama Rao accused the Congress of being "intolerant of criticism" and promoting "extreme intolerance".
He said, "It seems that the state of emergency has returned in Telangana…"
