New Delhi: Delhi Police has arrested Arun Reddy, a Congress functionary, in connection with its probe into a ‘doctored’ video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah doing the rounds on social media.
Reddy, according to the police, was arrested from Delhi Friday.
Police sources told ThePrint that Reddy is suspected of being part of a conspiracy to ‘edit and circulate’ the purportedly doctored video. “There are more accused in the case,” said one source.
Arun Reddy, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) national coordinator for social media, manages the ‘Spirit of Congress’ handle on X (formerly Twitter).
Reacting to his arrest, Congress’s Manickam Tagore said in a post on X Friday evening, “Our Telangana colleague Arun Reddy, has been detained by Delhi Police for 24 hrs with no information or FIR disclosed. We demand the immediate release of Arun. This authoritarian misuse of power by the regime is condemnable”.
Our Telangana colleague Arun Reddy, has been detained by @DelhiPolice for 24hrs with no information or FIR disclosed. We demand the immediate release of Arun. This authoritarian misuse of power by the regime is condemnable. #ReleaseSpiritOfCongress #ReleaseArunReddy pic.twitter.com/bL0dG2O4UD
— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) May 3, 2024
Earlier in the day, Hyderabad Police arrested five functionaries of the Telangana Congress’s social media wing, who were later granted bail. Identified as Pendyala Vamshi Krishna, Manne Sathish, Pettam Naveen, Asma Tasleem and Koya Geetha, all five are residents of Hyderabad.
“On 27.04.2024 at 19:30 hours received a complaint from G. Premender Reddy, Occupation – BJP State General Secretary, in which he stated that the Telangana Congress Pradesh Congress Party in its Twitter account posted morphed/fabricated video of Sri Amit Shah ji Hon’ble Union Home Minister. The said act of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Party President and their social media in morphing/fabricating Sri Amit Shah ji’s speech and committed offence under the I.T. Act. The deliberate and mischievous act is aimed at misleading the people and voters creating fear amongst the OBC communities,” Dara Kavitha, DCP (Cyber) Hyderabad said in a statement.
The developments came days after Assam Police arrested one Reetam Singh, a lawyer and war room coordinator for Assam Congress, in connection with the case. Police in Assam had lodged an FIR in this regard.
Earlier, the Delhi Police had summoned Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy for questioning in the case. The summonses were issued to Reddy and four Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) functionaries – Shiva Kumar Ambala, Asma Tasleem, Satish Manne and Naveen Pettem – under Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) sections 91 and 160.
The chief minister has sought more time to appear for questioning.
The Delhi Police Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit launched a probe into the matter after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) filed a complaint in connection with the purportedly doctored video.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has claimed that the original video shows Shah saying that 4 percent reservation granted to Muslims in Telangana is “unconstitutional”, whereas the “doctored” version makes it appear as if Shah is calling for reservation for SCs and STs to be scrapped.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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