BRS Slams Arrest Of Journalist Revathi Of Pulse News

Senior BRS leader and former minister Harish Rao today strongly condemned the early morning arrest of senior journalist and Pulse News Youtube channel managing director Revathi Pogadadanda (44) and her colleague Tanvi Yadav alias Bandi Sandhya (25), labelling it a blatant attack on press freedom and democratic values.

As per reports, at approximately 5 am today a group of 12 plainclothes police officers detained Revathi at her residence.

The officers confiscated her mobile phone, as well as the phone and laptop of her husband, director Chaitanya Dantuluri.

They also sealed the premises of the news channel office.

The arrest was allegedly linked to the broadcasting of a video in which a farmer expressed grievances about not receiving benefits from the Rythu Bandhu scheme.

Rao criticised the government's approach of "responding to dissent with arrests", and said that the pre-dawn arrest of the senior journalist highlighted the administration's insecurity and cowardice.

"I strongly condemn this shameful attempt to silence questioning voices and suppress press freedom," he said.

Questioning the nature of governance under Revanth Reddy, he asked, "Is this a democratic or a dictatorial State?"

BRS working president K T Rama Rao also denounced the arrest, and drew parallels to the Emergency era.

He argued that detaining journalists for sharing a farmer's hardships exemplified autocratic governance, and questioned the state of press freedom under the current administration.

He demanded an immediate cessation of what he described as suppressive actions against voices critical of the government's performance.

The arrests have reportedly sparked widespread outrage among journalist communities and civil society organizations, who view these actions as attempts to intimidate the press and curtail freedom of expression. Calls for the immediate release of Revathi and Yadav have intensified.