A case of criminal intimidation and intentional insult was registered against Jana Sena Party president, actor Pawan Kalyan in Hyderabad by the Banjara Hills police on Thursday.
The case was on the basis of a complaint filed by the Telangana Union of Working Journalists (TUWJ) member G Rajesh for defaming Telugu news channels—TV9, ABN and TV5.
Rajesh in his complaint accused the actor and his fans of using forged electronic record for ‘cheating’ and ‘harming’ the reputation of TV9 and its CEO Ravi Prakash in particular.
The complainant said that though TV9 had muted the abusive word hurled against him by Sri Reddy, the actor had tweeted a doctored video without any censor, insinuating that the channel had committed the crime.
Rajesh said that using the doctored video, ‘trolls’ and activists of Jana Sena have been defaming the channels on social media.
Following the complaint, a case under section IPC 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) was registered against the actor-politician.
There is already a case pending against Pawan Kalyan for allegedly defaming the channel ABN Andhrajyothi and its head Radha Krishna. The cyber crime police are verifying the videos to authenticate, and are yet to file the case.
Inception of the controversy
It all started with actor Sri Reddy, who had complained against alleged sexual exploitation in Tollywood. She partook in several news debates. However, as all the debates did not yield a desired outcome, the actor in an unprecedent protest stripped herself at the Movie Artists’ Association in Film Nagar, shocking many.
When Pawan Kalyan was asked for his comments, the actor suggested that she should take a legal approach and file a case instead of approaching the media.
Irked by his comments, Sri Reddy, before showing her middle finger, made derogatory comments against the actor and slapped herself with chappal for calling him ‘Ánna’ (brother).
Angered and upset with this, the actor went after the media channels which aired that particular episode.
The actor even alleged that media channels—TV9, Mahaa News and ABN had colluded with the ruling Telugu Desam Party, and had used Sri Reddy to divert the attention away from the cry for special status. He has through many tweets alleged that the people who run these channels were working in cahoots with Chandrababu Naidu and Nara Lokesh.