Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and former Telangana minister T. Harish Rao criticized the state police for arresting journalists on a festival day over allegations of broadcasting fake news about a minister and a woman IAS officer. Harish Rao expressed his disapproval of the arrests made without prior notice and demanded the journalists’ immediate release after speaking to Director General of Police B. Shivadhar Reddy.
Questioning the necessity of arresting journalists without following due legal process, Harish Rao emphasized the importance of treating journalists respectfully and urged the police to issue summonses after the Sankranti festival instead. He raised concerns about the emotional distress caused to the families of the detained journalists and labeled the arrests as an assault on democracy by the Congress government.
The police action, according to Harish Rao, not only undermines the self-respect of Telangana journalists but also poses a threat to democratic values. He criticized the government for targeting journalists and imposing restrictions on media platforms, questioning the motives behind such crackdowns. The Director General of Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate cases involving the dissemination of fake news and objectionable content about public officials on various media platforms.
