Last month, the Telangana High Court directed the Cyberabad Police Commissioner to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged illegal detention of two Congress workers during a raid on the Congress ‘war room'. On December 13, 2022, the police raided the war room in Hyderabad and detained Ishan Sharma and Sasank Tatineni. The police also seized some computers and hard disks.
The ‘war room’ run by the party's poll strategist Sunil Kanugolu was raided for allegedly posting defamatory comments about Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) on social media platforms.
The police had later issued notices under 41A CrPC (notice of appearance before a police officer) in connection with the case booked by the cybercrime wing against them under Indian Penal Code sections 505-B (statements that create public mischief) and 469 (forgery) for making defamatory videos by morphing photos.
The Congress party denied the allegations. It alleged that the KCR government targeted the ‘war room’ set up to strategise and promote the party in preparation for the Assembly elections. The Congress leaders say the case highlights how the KCR government is acting in an autocratic manner to target its critics.
Congress MP Mallu Ravi had filed a habeas corpus petition seeking compensation of Rs 20 lakh each for the Congress workers illegally detained by the cybercrime team. The Congress party alleged that the raid was conducted on the orders of the Chief Minister to suppress dissent and to punish them for questioning his governance.
The party had also raised the issue in the Lok Sabha. Calling KCR a “South Indian Hitler”, Congress MP and then All India Congress Committee (AICC) in-charge of Telangana, Manickam Tagore, had moved an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha.Tagore had also tweeted a post, taking a dig at KCR’s, daughter K Kavitha’s alleged role in the Delhi excise policy case, and challenged the cops to arrest him. He said the party’s “war room” was raided after his particular post.
Police officials had clarified that they acted on a complaint regarding a Facebook page called ‘Telangana Galam' which allegedly contained provocative and manipulated videos involving political figures, including the chief minister and other politicians.
In June, the police arrested three Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and issued a notice to the party’s then state president Bandi Sanjay Kumar for allegedly insulting the Chief Minister by organising a skit. BJP leaders Jitta Balakrishna Reddy, Rani Rudramma and Daruvu Yellanna were arrested by the police.
A case was registered against them at the Hayathnagar police station for indulging in hate speech and inciting hatred and causing provocation for violence through an event organised by the cultural team of the BJP on Telangana Formation Day (June 2).
On a complaint by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) social media convenor Y Satish Reddy, the police booked Balakrishna Reddy, state BJP chief Bandi Sanjay and others under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 114 (abettor present when offence is committed), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 505(2) (statements causing public mischief, promoting enmity).
The complainant had alleged that the organisers misused the platform to defame the government schemes with false accusations against the Chief Minister and the government with the intention to mislead the people and provoke hatred and unrest.
Leaders of the ruling party say while their government welcomes healthy criticism and supports a free media, action will be taken as per law against individuals resorting to personal attacks or posting defamatory posts on social media on the pretext of freedom of expression.