AP CID takes 60-year-old into custody for criticism
The Andhra Pradesh police on Tuesday arrested Ranganayaki Poonthota, a 60-year-old woman from the coastal city of Guntur, merely for raising several doubts about the state government’s handling of the LG Polymers mishap on the social media platform Facebook.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) took her into custody from her house and immediately released her on bail. She was charged with defaming the government and creating fear among the people!
In an official release, the CID said a case has been registered against Ms Poonthota under IPC sections 505 (2) (making statements conducive to public mischief), 153(A) (promoting enmity between two groups), 188 (disobedience to order promulgated by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with Section 34 and section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
The message she posted on Facebook was basically in the form of a questionnaire which suggested that vested interests had erased all crucial evidence in the factory after the mishap and had deliberately misplaced the crucial chemical to be mixed with the styrene (neutraliser Para Tertiary Butyl Catechol).
“This is very misleading because it gives scope to draw an inference that the vapour leak at LG Polymers is deliberate,” a senior CID official claimed. He said the reality is that the neutraliser available in the plant was fully utilised and additional stocks were airlifted from Gujarat.
Ms Poonthota compiled information gathered by one Raghu Nadh Malladi and posted it on her FB page. “I am unaware of the sharing option so copied the text from another post and pasted it on my page,” the septuagenarian said.
She said the content was not against any political party and her intention was to share information with people as a citizen.
● THE MESSAGE she posted on Facebook was basically in the form of a questionnaire which suggested that vested interests had erased all crucial evidence in the factory after the mishap and had deliberately misplaced the crucial chemical to be mixed with the styrene (neutraliser Para Tertiary Butyl Catechol).
A look at her FB page reveals that she is very active on social media and shares her views on contemporary political and social issues. An ardent fan of former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, she has his photo as her profile picture with the caption ‘malli nuvve ravali’ (you should come back). She criticised the Centre’s stimulus package, particularly because it ignored the hospitality industry, which she said takes care of people from the time they brush their teeth to going to bed at night. Official sources said the social media team working for the Chief Minister had been observing her posts for a long time and flagged it to the higher ups. Use of phrases like ‘Prison Thinking’ as a caption for Mr Reddy’s photo and ‘Vision Thinking’ for Mr Naidu and some other posts questioning the capital shifting drew the attention of the top brass, sources added.
Even though it is not a crime to support any political party, her son Shankar said, “We don’t support any political party.” Shankar’s grandfather established the famous hotel Shankar Vilas in the heart of the city. “She is no doubt a great admirer of Mr Naidu’s vision of development and active on social media but never intended to demean anyone,” he said.