HYDERABAD: Justice K Surender of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday ordered Sunil Kanugolu, a political strategist for the Telangana Congress, to appear before the ACP, Cyber Crimes, CCS Hyderabad on January 8, and assist with the investigation into an allegedly derogatory video clip posted on the Facebook page “Telangana Galam”.
The judge also instructed the Cyber Crime police not to harass Kanugolu or use any coercive measures against him. The court was hearing a petition filed by Kanugolu challenging a notice issued to him under Section 41A of the Criminal Procedure Code and seeking the quashing of an initial police report (FIR) filed at the Cyber Crime Police Station, CCS, Hyderabad.
According to the case registered by the police, images of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, Minister KT Rama Rao and MLC K Kavitha were morphed in the video clip to make them appear like comedians. The complainants also said that with an eye on the upcoming elections, Kanugolu, who is in command of the Congress “War Room” at Madhapur, had uploaded false information about the BRS.
Three people were subsequently arrested by the CCS sleuths for posting offensive material against the BRS on social media. They were later served notices under Section 41A of the CrCP.CV Mohan Reddy, senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, asserted during the hearing that Kanugolu is a member of the national task force of the Congress, based in New Delhi, and that he was in no way associated with the video clip that surfaced on the Facebook page “Telangana Galam”. The senior counsel said that the contents of the video do not in any way imply humour or insult a specific individual.
“Kanugolu resides and works in New Delhi and is unrelated to the Congress War Room in Hyderabad. However, the Cyber Crime Police issued a notice under section 41A CrPC requiring him to appear before it on January 8, 2023, despite the fact that they were well aware he was not a resident of Hyderabad, and they have wrongly accused him in the case. His name is not mentioned anywhere in the FIR lodged in this case,” Mohan Reddy told the court.