The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the arrest of journalist Ravi Prakash, stating the Telangana government must “immediately release” him and “ensure he is not harassed because of his work”.

Prakash is the founder of news website Tolivelugu and is the former CEO of ABCPL which owns news channel TV9. He was forced to resign earlier this year after what he described as a “hostile takeover”. The News Minute reports that he was arrested on October 5. While the police said they are investigating a case of forgery and cheating, Prakash had called his departure from ABCPL an “attack on press freedom”, the report says.

Steven Butler, program coordinator of CPJ Asia, said: “Ravi Prakash is clearly being persecuted in retaliation for critical coverage on the Tolivelugu news website. Authorities in Telangana should release him immediately.”

The CPJ report says: “…two of his colleagues told CPJ that his arrest is in retaliation for his refusal to withdraw two interviews on his news portal accusing the Telangana chief minister and a leading industrialist of corruption.” According to The News Minute, the interviews in question are with industrialists Jupally Rameshwar Rao, owner of real estate company My Home Group, and Krishna Reddy of Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited.