Desam cracks down on critics

Cops arrest Ravindra for posts on social media

In what some see as a clampdown on dissenting voices by the state government, yet another person, Bengaluru-based software professional Ippala Ravindra, was arrested and interrogated by police on Wednesday for allegedly posting objectionable comments on Facebook criticising Payakaraopeta MLA V. Anitha.

He was booked by the ST/ST Atrocities Cell of the Visakhapatnam police under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, rather than for his posts on social media under the IT Act.

Mr Ravindra was picked up from Bengaluru by the Vizag police on Tuesday and brought to the city on Wednesday.

Mr Ravindra had criticised Ms Anitha on Facebook for neglecting her husband and giving importance to some Telugu Desam leaders and he also criticised the MLA for her silence on issues in her constituency.

The police said that Ms Anitha, who belongs to the Schedule Caste community, had lodged the complaint with Three-Town police and the case was transferred to the SC/ST Atrocities Cell and the ACP of the cell, B. Mohan Rao, sent a notice to Mr Ravindra. Sources said that Mr Ravindra is a native of Narsaraopeta in Guntur district and an MBA graduate. It may be recalled that Ms Anitha had earlier lodged a complaint against Inturi Ravi Kiran, a political satirist, who was also arrested by the Vizag police on the same charges.

Mr Ravi Kiran is a techie and runs a Facebook page titled ‘Political punch’.

After Inturi Ravi Kiran, another social media activist, a Bengaluru-based software professional Ippala Ravindra, was arrested and interrogated by police on Wednesday for allegedly posting objectionable comments on Facebook criticising Payakaraopeta MLA V. Anitha.

The police have charged Ravindra under SC/ST Atrocities Act and also Section 67 of the IT Act and 291 of the Indian Penal Code for posting objectionable and derogatory comments.

The YSR Congress has condemned the arrest of Mr Ravindra, and has called it a misuse of the SC/ST Act.

They allege that some TD leaders have told Ms Anitha to target those who criticise the Telugu Desam and to lodge complaints against them under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act. According to the YSRC, the police are not disclosing any information. They have shifted Mr Ravindra to KG Hospital for medical tests and may produce him in court on Thursday.