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The Andhra Pradesh police arrested YouTuber Raavan (Joseph) for the fifth time in five days on Saturday, July 4, this time under the draconian anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Raavan has been booked under Section 13 (punishment for unlawful activities) and Section 39 (offence relating to support given to a terrorist organisation) of the UAPA. The case also includes charges of waging war against the Government of India, acts endangering sovereignty, unity and integrity of India, provocation with intent to cause riot, assertions prejudicial to national integration, and statements conducing to public mischief.
The details of the case are yet to be known.
Raavan has been in police custody since the night of June 30, and has repeatedly been re-arrested immediately after securing bail four times so far. Most of these cases are connected to Raavan’s recent controversial remarks criticising Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan for not acting against caste discrimination, while speaking at a public meeting called Dalita Kraistava Samara Sankharavam (Dalit Christians’ War Cry) in Eluru on June 28.
Most of the cases against Raavan have been filed by Jana Sena party workers.
In one of the cases Raavan was arrested by the Sarpavaram police, he was accused of engaging a child to commit an offence, over a video in which he interviewed students of a government school who had alleged caste discrimination by teachers and classmates. The school in Yendapallu falls under Pawan Kalyan’s Pithapuram constituency, and Raavan had questioned the Deputy CM over the issue in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel Prashna.
The complaint claimed that Raavan “illegally used minor children in Pithapuram to create and publish politically motivated videos targeting” Pawan Kalyan.
Pawan Kalyan also made his stance clear by issuing a stern statement over cases of social media abuse a day after Raavan’s initial arrest. He announced tough measures against such cases and said that people had the right to criticise the government in a democracy, but “abusing someone, issuing death threats, spreading false allegations, targeting women, insulting religious beliefs, attacking someone’s dignity, or provoking violence are not protected under the Constitution.”
Raavan was first picked up by the Pithapuram police. After a magistrate granted him station bail, he was arrested by the Sarpavaram police immediately. As he continued securing bails, he was arrested again by the Inaguduru police and then the Payakaraopeta police. He got bail in the Payakaraopeta case on the evening of July 4 and was on his way back home when he was arrested yet again at the Vempadu toll gate.
It was initially believed that he would be taken to Eluru, but he was arrested in the UAPA case and taken to Gannavaram. A notice was issued to his wife informing of his arrest in the Gannavaram case.
In a statement recorded before his latest arrest, Raavan said the government was deploying the police force against him in huge numbers instead of dealing with public issues. Raavan, who has been charged with organised crime, alleged it instead applies to Jana Sena party workers who had gathered outside police stations where he was detained and allegedly tried to attack him.
He declared he was on a hunger strike for four days.
“You can kill me, but you cannot kill all questioning voices,” Raavan said, addressing the Andhra Pradesh government.
