Published Jul 05, 2026 | 1:39 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 05, 2026 | 1:39 PM
Prashna Raavan.
Synopsis: The Gannavaram police charged YouTuber and political commentator Prashna Raavan under Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Raavan’s saga began on the night of 30 June, when Pithapuram police picked him up from his Hyderabad home.
The Gannavaram police in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday, 4 July, charged YouTuber and political commentator Prashna Raavan alias B Joseph under Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
It was his fifth arrest in less than a week, and he had obtained bail four times.
According to the police, he has been charged under Sections 13 and 39 of UAPA along with Sections 147, 148, 152, 197(1)d and 353(1)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
After he obtained bail on Saturday, the fourth time in four days, in the Payakaraopeta case from a court in Yelamanchili, the Gannavaram police arrested him again in another case.
The FIR stated that the case was against the glorification of a banned terrorist organisation and the propagation of extremist ideology through social media. The complaint was filed by one Garikapati Siva Sankar.
“The complainant stated that Bachalakuri Joseph @ ‘Prashna Ravan’, the administrator and content creator of the YouTube channel “PRASHNA”, uploaded and circulated a video allegedly containing speeches that glorified the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoist), propagated its extremist ideology, and encouraged public support for armed rebellion against the State. It is further alleged that the accused disseminated such content through social media platforms, which is likely to influence the public, particularly the youth, and is prejudicial to the sovereignty, unity, integrity, and security of India,” the FIR read.
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Raavan’s saga began on the night of 30 June, when Pithapuram police picked him up from his Hyderabad home over remarks he had made against Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, and a spiritual speaker, Ram Manohar Das, at the Dalit Christian Samara Sankharavam public meeting.
In a YouTube video released before his re-arrest on Saturday, Raavan said that even if the government machinery tried to hurt him, it would not be able to silence the people who would continue to question it.
“You cannot kill Prashna (the question),” he said.
On 1 June, a magistrate court granted Raavan bail, but he was soon picked up by the Sarpavaram police in an unrelated 2025 case.
The pattern repeated twice more. After a Kakinada court rejected the police’s remand request on 2 July, Machilipatnam police arrested him the same night on a fresh complaint filed by Jana Sena supporters.
A Machilipatnam magistrate rejected a remand request late on 3 July, and the police from Payakaraopet in the distant Anakapalle district, nearly 300 km away, took him into custody.
Throughout the ordeal, four separate magistrates declined to remand him in custody, and his lawyer argued that arresting him repeatedly after each bail violated his fundamental rights and reflected selective targeting by the ruling NDA government in Andhra Pradesh.
According to Raavan’s statement on Saturday, he had been on a hunger strike for four days.
The case also drew massive backlash, including from actor Prakash Raj, the Opposition YSRCP, and Telangana political analyst and former member of the Legislative Council, Prof K Nageshwar.
Ravan had approached the Andhra Pradesh High Court, requesting that all the cases filed against him at different police stations be treated as a single case.
(With inputs from Sreshta Ladegaam.)
