Hyderabad DCP shifted over Meta India cases after BJP pressure

The transfer followed reported displeasure in the CMO and police after BJP-backed complaints led to cases over CJP protest content.

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Cyber Crime Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) V Aravind Babu was relieved of his duties on Friday evening, July 31, and directed to report to the state police headquarters, days after his unit booked two cases against the head of Meta India and multiple Facebook and Instagram handles over allegedly morphed and objectionable content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The development follows what top police sources told the Times of India described as considerable displeasure within the Chief Minister’s Office and among senior police officers over the cases, which were registered on complaints by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters at a time when the Congress party leadership, both at the Centre and in the state, was openly backing the student protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) over the NEET paper leak.

After ascertaining the circumstances that led to the registration of the two cases, the state government, through the police top brass, relieved Aravind Babu of his charge at the Hyderabad Commissionerate.

Complaints against videos abusing PM

The cases stem from two separate complaints filed by BJP-affiliated individuals on Wednesday night, July 29.

T Saikiran Goud, 32, a social media core committee member of Telangana BJP, lodged a complaint against 20 Facebook and Instagram accounts and sought action against Meta for hosting the content. “On behalf of Telangana BJP karyakarthas, we seek an investigation into certain Instagram accounts that have been publishing and circulating content which, in our opinion, is derogatory towards the Prime Minister [Narendra Modi] and appears to promote narratives that may be prejudicial to the sovereignty, integrity and public order of the nation,” Goud said, requesting police to identify those operating the accounts and initiate legal action.

In a separate complaint, BJP supporter S Aravind Reddy of Nampally alleged that certain Instagram handles had circulated obscene videos and images. “I came across multiple morphed and digitally manipulated videos and images depicting the Prime Minister, US President and former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan in an obscene, derogatory and misleading manner. Such content has the potential to mislead the public,” Reddy said in his complaint.

Fallout of the cases

Acting on both complaints, Cyber Crime Police registered two separate cases under relevant sections of the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the account holders and Meta’s India head.

The registrations drew sharp attention given that the content in question was linked to the circulation of videos from the CJP’s anti-NEET agitation, a protest that the Congress had publicly and vocally supported. The decision to book the cases on the basis of complaints by BJP workers, against that political backdrop, is learnt to have triggered the chain of events that led to Aravind Babu’s transfer, TOI reported.