HYDERABAD: The Cyberabad Police found itself embroiled in a controversy on Wednesday after a communally insensitive tweet by a netizen named Suresh Kochattil and a response by the official handle of the Cyberabad Police went viral.
The response by Cyberabad police to the Tweet invited criticism from various quarters, including Hyderabad MP and AIMIM Chief, Asaduddin Owaisi.
Tagging the Twitter handles of three police commissionerates, Telangana DGP, Minister of IT and TRS Working President KT Rama Rao and of the US Consul General in Hyderabad, Kochattil Tweeted around Monday midnight - “Many wannabe Jihadis work for American Software companies in Hyderabad? After #Iran threatened to hit US assets, has @hydcitypolice @cyberabadpolice @RachakondaCop done background check/risk assessment of these Peacefuls? Or cops are clueless? @KTRTRS @TelanganaDGP @USCGHyderabad.”
To this, the Cyberabad Police responded within minutes saying, “Yes sir, we have specialised wings for collection of advance intel and our teams are on the job 24X7. Thanks for alerting us. Please keep us updated if you find anything suspicious.”
Kochattil claims on his social media bio that he hates "Sickulars and Commies"
Following this, the Tweet by Kochattil and the reply by Cyberabad Police went viral with many criticising the police for replying.
Owaisi tagged the Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar and tweeted on Wednesday, “@cpcybd sir you may say “yes sir”. Please enlighten how many such “jihadi” are working in software companies. Kindly give a number if not please clarify what you exactly meant. Will you reply to an MP or only to a Bhakt?”
He further took a dig at Sajjanar, who was in the news recently for the encounter of four accused in the Hyderabad veterinary doctor rape and murder case.
Owaisi Tweeted, “Sir whatever you do but no killings in the name of “encounter” at 5 am. Please if possible arrest and as accepted 3rddegree will be given but please not cartoos in stomach. CP sahib terrorism has no religion.”
Although Sajjanar or the official Twitter handle of Cyberabad Police has not come out with a clarification on the controversy, a senior Cyberabad cop said that it was a routine response given to a query made on Twitter.
“There are systems in place for responding to certain queries. We are not insinuating that everyone from a community is like that," the senior Cyberabad police official said.
Meanwhile, the Cyberabad police have issued a clarification stating that the response to the tweet has been misconstrued.
"Our tweet has been misconstrued. The intent is only to suggest that we are always alert and well equipped to ensure security and it does not mean to agree with the suggestion.
We reiterate that we are committed to maintain peace and order in the society without any prejudice towards any person or community," said the statement issued by the police.