HYDERABAD : The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) on Wednesday apprehended YouTuber Praneeth Hanumanthu in Bengaluru, three days after he was booked for engaging in an obscene conversation about a relationship between a man and daughter in a YouTube video.
After arresting him, the TGCSB officials produced him before a local magistrate in Bengaluru before he could be brought to Hyderabad on a transit warrant.
Hanumanthu, a native of Andhra Pradesh and reportedly the son of a senior IAS officer, was moderating a podcast featuring three other persons. In the guise of comedy, the accused made insensitive remarks against a girl child.
“He (Praneeth) has been absconding since the day the matter came to light,” said TGCSB Director Shika Goel.
Now that he has been tracked down and apprehended, the official said, “Efforts are on to apprehend the remaining accused.”
Netizens flag problematic content
After certain sections of the video in question started widely circulating on social media, many internet users, including actor Sai Dharam Teja, took to X and flagged the video for its problematic content. Soon, the Telangana police registered a case against all the four accused under relevant sections of the IT Act, BNS and POCSO Act.
The YouTuber’s video caused a lot of online outrage, wherein CM A Revanth Reddy and the then DGP Ravi Gupta posted on X reassuring the public that child safety is of utmost importance to the police and the government.
“We are committed to protecting all citizens, especially children. Offenders misusing social media for humour will face justice, and our team is diligently identifying them,” Gupta had earlier posted on X.