Hyd police detain Facebook page admin for posts against TRS govt, later let off

The admin of 'Spirit of Telangana', Prashant, was picked up from his office in Hyderabad by policemen in civil clothes.
Hyd police detain Facebook page admin for posts against TRS govt, later let off
Hyd police detain Facebook page admin for posts against TRS govt, later let off
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The Hyderabad Commissioner's Task Force on Monday questioned the admin of a Facebook page, Spirit of Telangana, for his alleged posts criticising the ruling TRS government in the state.

The police said that the admin, identified as Prashant, was picked up from his office in Banjara Hills and detained for questioning. He was later let off. 

The incident allegedly occurred after Prashant had put up a few posts attacking Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his Cabinet Ministers. The cyber crime police also scanned Prashant's mobile.

According to reports, the Facebook page has six admins, including four NRIs. After Prashant was detained, the page continued riling up support and demanded his release, with several people using the hashtag #releaseprashant.

Screenshots of CCTV footage posted on the page also showed that the policemen who had picked up Prashant were in civil dress and not in their uniform.

"Prashant hails from a poor family and he is using words as his weapon. Staying in a simple room without taking salary, he is exposing the losses that are happening due to the present government. He must be released immediately," a post on the FB page reads.

"Spirit of Telangana was established for the people and runs because of the people. Around three days ago, we had exposed some irregularities by a TRS Minister in Suryapet district. We suspect that he was detained due to that. Our only intention is to expose the government's mistakes. Such acts will not deter us and we are ready to fight and face all consequences," another admin of the group, said in a video appeal.

Several Congress leaders from Dr Sravan Dasoju to Revanth Reddy condemned the state government's move. Prashant was let off on Monday evening and maybe called for questioning again on Tuesday.

This is not the first time that the Telangana police have picked up someone over a Facebook post.

In November last year, thepolice arrested two youths from Mandhapally village in Duggondi mandal of Warangal Rural District, for allegedly abusing Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, in a video on Facebook.

Earlier, a conductor of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) was suspended from service for posting comments on social media against KCR.

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