Two more persons, including a journalist, were arrested late on Friday in connection with a case relating to spreading of disinformation that the arch of the Lakshminarasimha temple was vandalised by miscreants at Singarayakonda in Prakasam district, Superintendent of Police Siddarth Kaushal said on Saturday.
The arrest of the two — Gali Haribabu (42), a local TDP leader, and K. Narasimha Rao (33), a Singarayakonda ABN news channel reporter — was made following a detailed investigation, including scrutiny of mobile call detail record (CDR) analysis, police claimed.
With this, eight persons, including six journalists, have been arrested in connection with the case. They were charged with criminal conspiracy to cause social disharmony and breach of peace and violation of the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act.
Denying that the police had been acting in a partisan manner, the Superintendent of Police said: “The case is being handled fully based on merit. The ongoing probe will be taken to its logical conclusion.”
Meanwhile, scribes cutting across unions staged a protest outside Prakasam Bhavan and demanded withdrawal of the case which they alleged was “foisted” on journalists.
They boycotted the official briefing by District Collector Pola Bhaskar and the SP on the formation of a 20-member committee to ensure foolproof security for places of worship and maintain communal harmony in the district.
Upset over denial of bail to the arrested journalists on alleged ‘trumped-up charges’, the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists (APUWJ) State president I.V. Subba Rao demanded withdrawal of the case forthwith.
