New Delhi, 13 March 2025: The Indian Journalists Union is shocked and condemns the arrest of two women journalists of an online news channel Pulse News – Managing Director P Revathi and reporter Bandi Sandhya, in Telangana by the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police on Wednesday 12 March for allegedly circulating a video on social media platforms containing ‘defamatory content’ against ruling Congress government and its Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and ‘violating relevant sections of the IT Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).’ The Union said the case is being given a political colour and that the 14-day judicial custody of the two must be immediately revoked.
The police claim the defamatory video posted on X was shot in the office of Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) party in banjara Hills and funded by it, and following a complaint by congress state secretary of social media, an FIR was lodged. The video carried a provocative interview of a man, who made those ‘abusive’ remarks and a case was registered under section 111, 61(2), 353(2), 352 of BNS and 67 of IT, i.e. publishing or circulating any statement or report containing false information, rumour, or alarming news, and with intentionally insulting someone to provoke a breach of peace.
The two, said police were involved in ‘social media trolling’ and implicated in two previous cases. The recent video, it claimed was shot in February and started circulating on social media from March 10, ahead of Budget session of Assembly on March 12. Their office was searched and incriminating material, including laptops, hard disks and CPUs, were seized. With the video going viral, Revathi, had in a post on X urged people not to share it fearing FIRs being filed. The BRS has condemned the arrests as the video was about a common man ‘giving voice to his grievances against the government…’
In a statement IJU President and former member of Press Council of India Geetartha Pathak and Secretary General and Vice President, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) Sabina Inderjit said the cyber police acting with such prompt over so-called trolling of Telangana Chief Minister is distinctly political. Women journalists are increasingly being trolled across the country, but cyber police have not arrested the culprits. The video shows a citizen’s concern and arresting the journalists for doing their duty is not acceptable. The cases must be withdrawn immediately, the Union demanded.
