Their arrest followed the Telangana government’s move to take action against NTV over the broadcast of a gossip report.
Published Jan 15, 2026 | 8:06 AM ⚊ Updated Jan 15, 2026 | 8:06 AM
NTV.
Synopsis: A court granted conditional bail to two journalists of Telugu news channel NTV, who were arrested in a case connected to a controversial gossip report aired by the channel. Their arrest followed the Telangana government’s move to take action against NTV over the broadcast.
The 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) in Nampally in Hyderabad granted conditional bail to two journalists of Telugu news channel NTV, who were arrested in a case connected to a controversial gossip report aired by the channel.
The two journalists, D Ramesh and Sudheer, were produced before the judge at her residence in the early hours of Thursday, 15 January.
Their arrest followed the Telangana government’s move to take action against NTV over the broadcast.
Five days after the programme went on air, the government constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the leadership of VC Sajjanar, Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City.
On Tuesday evening, the NTV management issued an apology after consultations with legal advisers, leading many to believe the matter had de-escalated. However, the late-night arrests triggered sharp political reactions.
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao and former minister T Harish Rao had condemned the Congress government over the arrests.
The BJP also condemned the detentions. Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao said the arrests reflected an “Emergency mindset” and asserted that the party stood firmly for press freedom and democratic values.
Criminal cases were registered in connection with the alleged telecast and online circulation of defamatory and obscene content targeting a serving woman IAS officer.
The cases were registered based on a complaint lodged by senior bureaucrat Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, Special Chief Secretary to the Telangana government and Secretary of the Telangana IAS Officers’ Association.
The case arises out of a complaint filed on 10 January, alleging that a television channel and several electronic and digital media platforms carried “false, baseless and malicious” content against a woman IAS officer. The complaint specifically named NTV for telecasting the controversial content, which was later circulated widely by other media outlets and through social media platforms.
