BRS working president KTR criticised the police case and arrest of journalist Gowtham Pothagoni, who posted a video on X showing farmer Mallaiah expressing grievances about the Congress government.
Published Oct 10, 2024 | 8:00 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 11, 2024 | 12:38 PM
From left to right Gowtham Pothagoni, Farmer Mallaiah, and Ravi Shankar. Both Gowtham and Ravi are facing police action for criticising the government on X
On 8 October, Telugu Scribe journalist Gowtham Pothagoni was arrested at the Bengaluru airport. He was facing at least four complaints of posting inflammatory content that was derogatory towards Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
On 12 March, 2024, Gowhtami Pothagoni uploaded a video of a farmer, Mallayya, from Mushampalli village in Nalgonda district to his X handle. The farmer criticised the Revanth Reddy regime, comparing it with KCR’s two terms between 2014 and 2023. “Only if KCR wins can we be good,” the farmer was recorded saying, assuring the former Chief Minister that he’d vote for him next time.
During a leisure trip of mine, I faced a heartbreaking incident yesterday.
A farmer named Mallayya from Mushampalli village in Nalgonda district asked me to personally record a video of him and send it to KCR Garu…❤️
నీళ్ళు లేవు వ్యవసాయం లేదు, చావాలనిపిస్తుంది కేసిఆర్ సారు!🥹 pic.twitter.com/60H9btC1Lk
— Gowtham Pothagoni (@Gowtham_Goud6) March 12, 2024
Subsequently, the video went viral, amassing over 6.1 Lakh views on X and being reposted well over 800 times from his profile. However, it also attracted four complaints against Gowtham at the Vanasthalipura and Kharkhana police stations on 28 September and Manchal police station on 29 September. Additionally, he has another complaint lodged against him at the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police station.
The complainants, a 28-year-old student, a 51-year-old businessman, a 46-year-old farmer, and a 30-year-old from Himayath Nagar, all accused Gowtham of the same two things: defaming Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, and creating tensions and disharmony in society.
Following the complaints, the police charged Gowtham under the following laws:
The complaint at the Cyber Crime police station also named Gowtham’s employer, Telugu Scribe. Telugu Scribe is a social media channel which posts news primarily from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The channel is often criticised as being excessively critical of the Congress regime and sympathetic to BRS.
Gowtham was arrested at the Bengaluru airport on 8 October by the cybercrime police. He was later transported to Hyderabad and presented to the magistrate on 9 October according to the cybercrime police. Gowtham is still in custody.
KTR took to X to question why Gowtham was arrested. “What exactly is wrong with this video that a case was filed on journalist Gowtham Goud?” he asked, addressing the Telangana DGP. Stating that he had also met Mallayya, the Mushampalli farmer, he asked if they’d file a case against him as well.
What exactly is wrong with this video @TelanganaDGP that a case was filed on journalist Gowtham Goud?
I’ve even visited this farmer Mallaiah Garu in his native village to enquire about his situation
Will you file a case on me? https://t.co/zcCF9fapPC
— KTR (@KTRBRS) October 8, 2024
“The videos on X are not derogatory. It’s the opinion of an individual endorsed by a social media influencer or a digital media reporter,” Srikanth Chintala, a Telangana High Court advocate, opined. “As long as the language is not offensive or abusive, criminal action is unwarranted,” he further explained.
Earlier, two BRS activists: Gadam Anil Kumar and Kashamoni Ramesh were arrested by the Hyderabad police for sharing derogatory, morphed images of Revanth Reddy on their WhatsApp group ‘KTR Sena Ranga Reddy.’
Similarly, Ravi Shankar, an individual who operated accounts under the moniker of “Captain Fasak” and “2 Captain Parody” was taken into custody following a case against him on similar grounds to the one against Gowtham. However, in addition to police action, he was doxxed by Pulse of Telangana, a channel considered to be a Congress sympathiser. Notably, Ravi Shankar’s handles do possess reposts of people using expletives against the Chief Minister.
“These days, claims of ‘sentiments being hurt’ & ‘creating enmity between groups’ are on the rise. In most cases, there are no consequences following the alleged objectionable speeches or content,” Srikanth noted. “Unless two or more groups are involved in the alleged objectionable content, and such remarks are presented in some kind of outrage or communal tension, the same cannot be seen as an offence,” he said.
The BRS Media Convener, Krishank Manne, showed solidarity with both Ravi and Gowtham. “Ravi posted the voice of demolition victims and Gowtham posted the voice of a farmer’s voice,” he said.
Krishank, also claimed that the police had issued a lookout against 10 social media influencers across the city. However, the police denied the claim.
(Edited by Ananya Rao)
