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Telangana Police have registered a criminal case against an Andhra Pradesh Police circle inspector following allegations that he misbehaved with the wife of a Hyderabad-based YouTube journalist during an arrest operation carried out at their residence in Saroornagar on the night of June 30.
The 36-year-old woman alleged that several men in plain clothes entered her residence between 7.30 pm and 8 pm on Tuesday, identified themselves as Andhra Pradesh Police personnel and took away her husband in a private vehicle without following due legal procedure.
In her complaint, she alleged, “Without following due legal process, they took away my husband in a red private car. When I objected, I was verbally abused, pushed by them and my mobile phone was also seized.” She further claimed that the police neither informed her of the details of the case nor followed the Supreme Court guidelines governing arrests.
Based on her complaint, Saroornagar Police registered a case under Section 74 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), dealing with assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, against Bobbili Circle Inspector Srinivas Rao and others.
Saroornagar Inspector N Srishylam said the Andhra Pradesh Police had come to execute a non-bailable warrant issued in connection with a case registered under the BNS and the Information Technology Act.
“There is nothing illegal about the arrest. However, on the complaint of the wife of the accused, we booked a case against the CI of AP police for allegedly misbehaving with her. We will issue a notice to him as per legal procedure,” he said, according to a Times of India report.
The arrest was part of a wider operation in which Andhra Pradesh Police took into custody two political commentators on YouTube – Hyderabad-based journalist K Venkatrami Reddy of Myra Media and B Joseph, popularly known as Raavan, who runs the YouTube channel Prashna.
Both were arrested from Hyderabad on the night of June 30 over separate cases relating to their alleged comments against Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.
Visuals of Venkatrami Reddy's arrest from his Saroornagar residence drew criticism on social media after family members attempted to prevent the police from taking him away, while a police officer was seen pulling a woman aside during the operation.
Raavan was booked following a complaint over a speech delivered at a public meeting of Dalit Christians in Eluru on June 28, in which he criticised Pawan Kalyan, the state government and Hindutva preacher Radha Manohar Das. The FIR alleged that his remarks were derogatory and intended to promote enmity between different groups and disturb public peace.
Venkatrami was also facing an earlier case registered in April by the Badangi Police in Vizianagaram district over his alleged comments against Chief Minister Naidu.
The arrests have drawn criticism from political leaders and activists in Telangana, with several questioning the manner in which the Andhra Pradesh Police conducted the operation in Hyderabad.