The detention of three journalists from a Telugu news channel on Wednesday has touched off a political firestorm in Telangana, with both the Bharat Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party accusing the Congress government of an all-out assault on the freedom of the press. While the police maintain the trio was merely "brought in for questioning," opposition leaders have characterised the move as a series of "midnight arrests" designed to terrorise the media.
The case centres on an FIR filed by the Telangana IAS Officers' Association, which accused several news outlets of airing "false, fabricated, and baseless" content against a woman IAS officer. Following the complaint, the state police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on January 12 to fast-track the probe into the alleged defamatory broadcasts.
BRS Working President KT Rama Rao (KTR) lashed out at the government on X, comparing the current administration to the Emergency era. "It is unfortunate how the Telangana DGP is hell-bent on treating journalists like criminals," he said, questioning why police resorted to late-night detentions for bailable offenses. Senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao echoed these sentiments, calling the move a "direct attack on democracy" by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s government.
The BJP also joined the chorus of condemnation. State BJP President N Ramchander Rao slammed the "midnight arrests," describing them as a dangerous misuse of state machinery intended to crush dissent through intimidation. He asserted that the BJP would stand firmly with the media fraternity against what he called the Congress’s "dirty politics."
Despite the outcry, senior police officials have stuck to their stance that the journalists were summoned as part of the ongoing investigation and that due process is being followed.
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