Hyderabad: Senior Telugu journalist Kommineni Srinivas Rao was arrested in Hyderabad on Monday, June 9, for hosting a programme on a vernacular channel where a scribe allegedly made derogatory remarks against the greenfield capital city Amaravati, said a police official.
Guntur district superintendent of police S Satish confirmed that Thullur police from Amaravati have arrested the journalist.
“Thullur police have arrested Kommineni Srinivas Rao from Hyderabad over the derogatory remarks against Amaravati,” Satish told PTI, adding that the journalist is being brought to Andhra Pradesh from Telangana.
VVR Krishna Raju, the journalist, who was also part of the programme, was accused of spewing venom against Amaravati and its women.
According to information shared by a source close to the TDP-led NDA government, the duo were booked under BNS Sections 79, 196 (1), 353 (2), 299, 356 (2) and 61 (1) and Section 67 of the IT Act, including Section (1) of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
Meanwhile, YSRCP said that an FIR was registered against Rao four days ago in Thullur police station, accusing him of “failing to intervene during the broadcast”, which featured those alleged vitriolic remarks.
“Immediately after his arrest, Rao was transferred to Vijayawada. Rao, a senior citizen, questioned the legality of the arrest without explanation,” said a note from the YSRCP.
Condemning the arrest, YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, called it a “political vendetta”.
“In any discussion, diverse opinions are natural. Punishing an anchor for guests’ statements is not only unjust, it’s dangerous,” Reddy said in a post on ‘X’.
The former chief minister questioned the rationale behind punishing a moderator for remarks made by panellists during a televised debate, warning such actions endanger democratic discourse and press freedom.
He accused the TDP-led NDA government of suppressing dissent, using fear and intimidation tactics to silence intellectuals, journalists, and opposition voices across the southern state.
He alleged that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was “weaponising the state apparatus” to divert public attention from failures, corruption, and broken electoral promises.
“You (Naidu) were given five years—one has already passed. The day will come when the people will demand answers for your abuses and injustices,” Reddy warned.
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