Andhra journalist held over ‘WhatsApp post’ gets bail

A Guntur court last night granted bail to seasoned journalist Kollu Ankababu. According to the News Minute, he was arrested on September 22 for sharing a WhatsApp post “believed to have shown the YSR Congress party”, which governs Andhra Pradesh, “in a bad light”.

Ankababu was allegedly picked up from his home by a plainclothes team from the Crime Investigation Department. While granting Ankababu bail, the court “sought an explanation” for his arrest and dismissed the CID’s remand petition “as they failed to follow due procedure”, the New Indian Express reported.

The post in question was related to the arrest of a woman for “gold smuggling” at an airport. There were rumours that the woman is married to a government official or that she received “help” from officials after her arrest. The police said Ankababu’s post on this was intended to “create animosity among social groups, undermine the dignity of the chief minister’s office and cause law and order problems”.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party, Jana Sena Party, and the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists condemned Ankababu’s arrest, with the latter holding a protest in Vijayawada on Friday. TDP head and former chief minister Chandrababu Babu also wrote to the Andhra Pradesh DGP calling the arrest “illegal”.

“It is learnt that Ankababu, aged 73 years, is a senior journalist and is diabetic and BP patient, while his wife is also suffering from severe ailments. In this regard, if any untoward incident happens to Ankababu the entire police department will be held responsible,” News Minute quoted the letter as saying.