Revanth Reddy government is reeling from the arrest of BRS leader and former director of the state government’s digital media wing, Konatham Dilip. The police have arrested Dilip thrice so far. But they are failing every time due to lack of proper evidence. On Monday too, the government faced a bitter experience once again.
First, a case was registered in May this year on allegations that he created a fake logo in the name of RTC and spread misinformation on social media.When he approached the High Court, the court that heard the case said that this case was illegal, ordered not to arrest Dileep. It was clarified that only notices should be issued and details should be collected for the investigation.
After that, on September 5, the CCS police detained him in the CCS Bhavan in Basheerbagh from morning to midnight without giving any reason. With this, BRS leaders Jagadish Reddy, RS Praveen Kumar, Dasoju Shravan, Krishank, Peddi Sudarshan Reddy and others reached the CCS. They demanded to know why Dileep was detained.
However, the police did not give any answer for a few hours. Finally, they said that videos of the riots in Asifabad were posted on a Twitter handle, and they detained him knowing that Dileep was organizing it. When the BRS leaders insisted on showing evidence for this, they released Dileep at midnight. A whole day of drama ensued.
The same scene was repeated on Monday as well. The High Court had earlier advised Dileep to cooperate when called for questioning by the police. When the police called him for questioning on Monday, he appeared before the CCS police. He was made to sit empty for about two to three hours and then told that he was being arrested in an old case. However, the court, which recognized this conspiracy, rejected Dileep’s remand. This was a third setback for the government.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao alleged that Dileep was arrested for pointing out the failures of the Congress government. He lamented that the Revanth Reddy government was implementing a dictator’s rule and the Nizam’s constitution in Telangana, while claiming to be champions of democracy, he said.
“How long will you plan to undermine democracy and continue to survive with these illegal arrests? As lovers of democracy, we will fight you democratically,” he asserted, declaring that the BRS could not be intimidated by such illegal arrests and empty threats.
Former BRS minister T Harish Rao also condemned the arrest and demanded his immediate release and called the current state government ‘undemocratic’, alleging that the Congress party is misusing power to silence the critical voices in the state.
“This government claims to be a people’s government, but is acting undemocratically. It is a shame that this government chose to harass those who are questioning it, with false cases,” he said.