A special investigation team (SIT) formed to investigate alleged libellous content aired by a Telugu TV channel has arrested two journalists in Hyderabad.
The case was first booked by officers at the Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS) against some media outlets based on a complaint by the IAS officers’ association secretary, Jayesh Ranjan, on January 10.
As per the complaint, the TV channels aired content that defamed a woman IAS officer. The channel had alleged an illicit relationship between the IAS officer and a minister in the Revanth Reddy government’s Cabinet.
The SIT on Wednesday picked up Donthu Ramesh, the input editor of NTV news channel, from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Tuesday night while he was about to board a flight to Bangkok for a vacation. His colleague, Sudheer, was picked up from his home in Hyderabad.
“We took some reporters of a news channel into custody for questioning in relation to a case booked regarding causing insult and humiliation to a woman IAS officer. Spreading false information without any basis and resorting to character assassination, especially about a woman officer, is absolutely wrong,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar told the media.
Responding to allegations, Donthu Ramesh released a video that said, “The arrest is illegal, and we will fight it legally in court.” Sudheer claimed the case was booked even though they were not responsible for the libellous content being aired.
అర్ధరాత్రి జర్నలిస్టుల నిర్బంధం❗
🚔 ఎయిర్పోర్టులో ఎన్టీవీ ఇన్పుట్ ఎడిటర్ దొంతు రమేశ్ను అరెస్ట్ చేసిన పోలీసులు
⚠️ అర్ధరాత్రి ఇండ్లకు వెళ్లి జర్నలిస్ట్ చారి, దళిత జర్నలిస్ట్ సుధీర్ను పట్టుకెళ్లిన వైనం
📣 యాంకర్ దేవిని 4 గంటల పాటు విచారణ
📢 ఎన్టీవీలో సోదాలు.. హార్డ్… pic.twitter.com/rge8F6Bs5k
— BRS Party (@BRSparty) January 15, 2026
The arrests were widely criticised by Opposition parties in Telangana, with Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) tagging Rahul Gandhi on social media, accusing him of allowing the Congress government in the state to arrest journalists on false pretexts. YSR Congress Party’s leader and former chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Jagan Mohan Reddy, also condemned the arrests on Wednesday.
