Telangana Congress social media in-charge Manne Satish and four others were detained by the Hyderabad Police on Thursday in a case related to a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah that went viral on social media recently.
Satish, state Congress spokesperson Asma Tasleema, social media coordinate Naveen Pettem, Shiv Kumar Ambala, and Geetha were detained by the Cyber Crime team and taken to the Central Crime Station (CCS) after a case was registered based on a complaint filed by Telangana BJP General Secretary G. Premender Reddy.
However, the police have not shown the arrests, leading to speculation that the accused were detained to prevent the Delhi Police from taking any drastic action in a separate case registered by them.
A Delhi Police team is camping in Hyderabad for an investigation into the doctored video case. It reportedly seized the mobile phone of a Congress worker on Wednesday.
The team visited the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) headquarters on Thursday to speak to the legal cell leaders of the party. But as legal cell head Ramachandra Reddy or any other leader was not available, the team left the Congress office.
The Delhi Police on April 29 issued notices to Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and four social media workers and directed them to appear before them on May 1 along with the devices used to share the video.
Revanth Reddy’s lawyer Sowmya Gupta submitted a reply to Delhi Police saying he does not own the INC Telangana handle.
With respect to the others summoned by Delhi Police, the legal cell sought 15 days to respond to the notices.
The Hyderabad Police on April 29 registered a case on a complaint filed by BJP leader Permender Reddy, who alleged that Congress leaders morphed a video of Amit Shah over his statements on reservations.