In May, a vacation bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Justices Surepalli Nanda and J Sreenivas Rao had allowed Konatham to travel to the US.
Published Jun 11, 2025 | 8:40 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2025 | 9:14 AM
Dileep Konatham
Synopsis: The Telangana police arrested Dileep Konatham, the former Digital Media Director of Telangana, upon his arrival from the US.
Dileep Konatham, the former Digital Media Director of Telangana and a prominent member of the BRS, was arrested by the Telangana police upon his arrival from the US. This marks his second arrest within a year.
Reports said Konatham had travelled to the US on 18 May to attend the launch of a memoir dedicated to his late father, Konatham Bakka Reddy. He was allegedly taken into custody as soon as he reached Hyderabad.
It has been reported that he has been detained in connection with a case registered at the Nirmal Police Station and will be taken there for further proceedings.
In May, a vacation bench of the Telangana High Court comprising Justices Surepalli Nanda and J Sreenivas Rao had allowed Konatham to travel to the US.
Meanwhile, BRS Working President KT Rama Rao said the Congress government defied the high court order while arresting Konatham.
“The shameless Congress government does it again! Ignores the High Court directives and resorts to illegal arrest of Konatham Dileep. How long will this mafia show run Revanth? Strongly condemn this illegal arrest. Let me tell you, we aren’t scared of arrests! We are fighters and will continue to fight legally and democratically. Jai Telangana,” he wrote on X.
On 18 November 2024, Konatham was arrested by the Hyderabad Cybercrimes Department following court orders. The arrest was linked to his alleged involvement in spreading misinformation related to a communal clash in Jainoor, Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, earlier this year.
Konatham, whom the court had previously granted relief, was summoned by the Cybercrime Department for questioning.
There are allegations that he has been targeted by the state government following his social media posts criticising it, particularly targeting Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Congress party.
In March this year, the Nakrekal police of Nalgonda district in Telangana had booked Konatham along with Rama Rao, and party social media in-charge Manne Krishank, following complaints by Nakrekal Municipal Chairperson Chowgoni Rajitha, Uggidi Srinivas.
Apart from that, a separate case was registered against Rama Rao and Konatham on a complaint lodged by Nakirekanti Narender under the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) (Atrocities) Prevention Act.
The complainants said that the BRS leaders made allegations that they had connections with those involved in leaking the Telugu question paper of the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) on the first day of the examinations on 21 March.
(With inputs from Sumit Jha.)
