Hyderabad: The cybercrime unit of the Hyderabad police on Thursday arrested Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator Sravan Vurapalli and others for circulating an old video clip of alleged rigging in a polling booth on social media earlier this week. The clip, claiming it was from Bahadurpura, was spread with the claim that there were irregularities in the recently conducted Lok Sabha elections in Hyderabad.
Sravan Vurapalli is the BJP’s Malkajgiri corporator from Hyderabad. Three others were arrested by the police, a day after Election Commission of India (ECI) officials lodged a complaint about the circulation of an old video clip. The BJP corporator was whisked away from his office on Thursday evening, said police officials.
The office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Telangana had on Wednesday clarified that the video clip that was alleged to be from Hyderabad, does not pertain to any elections in the state. It stated that the polling process in Telangana was conducted in a free and fair manner. BJP’s Hyderabad seat candidate Madhavi Latha, who went around asking Burkha clad women to show their faces during polling on may 13, had claimed that there was rigging.
A look at BJP corporator Sravan Vurapalli’s profile on X (formerly Twitter) shows that his display picture is with BJP leader and ex-BRS minister Eatala Rajender. The BJP has not said anything about his arrest so far.
After polling, the video was circulated some people who claimed that it happened at a polling booth in the Bahadurpura Assembly segment in Hyderabad during the Lok Sabha elections. Many had tried to falsely link it to BJP candidate Madhavi Latha’s rigging claims. The clip shows people going into the voter compartment one after the other with the presiding officer and another poll official facilitating the alleged rigging.
In the video, a beep sound, like that of an EVM, is heard every time a person exits the compartment. The CEO said it is an old clip that is not linked to the elections in Telangana. The video was first shared on the YouTube channel TV9 Bangla on February 27, 2022.
| 
