Andhra police detain yet another man for Facebook post against CM Chandrababu Naidu

The Kuppam circle police in Andhra Pradesh took another yet man into custody on Saturday evening, charging him of posting objectionable content on Facebook against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.

The Hindu quoted the police saying that three more youngsters were actively involved in targeting political leaders on social media, and the latest person was detained after local leaders of the TDP filed a complaint.

“We have identified the youth and steps would be taken for his arrest if necessary. We have already warned him. He has used some other’s Facebook account, and posted the content on it," Circle Inspector (Kuppam) M Rajasekhar told The Hindu.

This comes less than a week after the Chittoor police arrested 30-year-old Basavaraju from Kaliganuru village of Santhipuram mandal, for morphing pictures of Naidu and Andhra IT Minister Nara Lokesh.

Lokesh is also the son of Naidu, and was recently inducted into the state cabinet.

Stating that he had replaced faces of thieves, beggars and eve teasers with that of the CM’s, reports said that the case was registered at Gudipalli police station in Naidu's Kuppam constituency.

The accused was reportedly running a page titled 'YSRCP unofficial' and was also spreading content on WhatsApp.

Basavaraju was booked under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 355 (criminal force with intent to dishonour person), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) of the IPC.

In May this year, the Visakhapatnam police picked up a Bengaluru-based software professional, Ippala Ravindra, for posting objectionable comments on Facebook against TDP MLA V Anitha. 

Many people claimed that Ravindra was on the YSRCP's payroll, as his page was filled with material that supported the party and YS Jagan. However, the party denied the allegations.

A week earlier, the Andhra police had arrested political satirist Ravi Kiran, after the same MLA filed a complaint against a 'defamatory' post on his Facebook page. This was the second time that he was arrested after an earlier stint with the law in April.

Ravi Kiran runs a Facebook page called 'Political Punch', which has more than one lakh followers, and is popular among critics of the ruling TDP.

In April, the Andhra police also conducted searches at YSRCP's headquarters, at Lotus Pond in Hyderabad's Banjara Hills, and reportedly served a notice to the party's social media wing, accusing it of hiring Ravi Kiran and keeping him on its payroll.