New Delhi [India], May 4 : Congress leader Arun Reddy, who handles the 'Spirit of Congress' X account and is the national coordinator for social media of the party, has been sent to 3-day Police custody in connection with Union Home Minister Amit Shah's doctored video case. After the IFSO unit of the Delhi Police arrested him late on Friday night, he was produced before the judge who sent him to 3-day custody.
In the doctored video, the Union Home Minister is purportedly heard saying that the BJP stands against the reservations in the country.
However, during his address at a public meeting in Congress-ruled Telangana, Shah said, "If the BJP forms the government here, we will withdraw the unconstitutional reservations to Muslims. We will ensure that the SCs, STs and OBCs get quotas as guaranteed under the Constitution."
Congress MP Manickam Tagore who is the Telangana Congress in-charge alleged that the arrest was a misuse of power by the Union government.
In a post on X, Tagore said "Our Telangana colleague Arun Reddy, has been detained by Delhi Police for 24 hours with no information or FIR disclosed. We demand the immediate release of Arun. This authoritarian misuse of power by the regime is condemnable. #ReleaseSpiritOfCongress, #ReleaseArunReddy."
On Tuesday, the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit of Delhi Police issued summons to 16 individuals across seven to eight states in connection with the circulation of a 'doctored' video featuring Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The summons were issued under Sections 91 and 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), asking the persons concerned to join the investigation and provide relevant documents and electronic devices as evidence.
According to police sources, those summoned include six members of the ruling Congress in Telangana, including Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. They, along with other persons from several states, were asked to appear for questioning on May 1 at the IFSO unit in Delhi's Dwarka.CrPC Section 160 allows police to summon a person for investigation, while Section 91 allows police to seek specific documents or gadgets to be presented as evidence.
The BJP's Telangana unit filed a complaint against the CM and the Congress' state chief, Revanth Reddy, at the Cyber Crime police station, accusing the party of fabricating and morphing the speech of Amit Shah.
The complaint stated that the Telangana Congress Pradesh Congress Party, on its official X handle, posted a 'morphed' and 'fabricated' video of Amit Shah.