Congress leader Arun Reddy has been remanded to a three-day police custody in connection with the controversy surrounding a doctored video purportedly involving Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The Congress leader is responsible for managing the ‘Spirit of Congress’ X account and has been serving as the national coordinator for social media affairs of the Congress party,
The IFSO (Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations) unit of the Delhi Police arrested Reddy late on Friday night followed by which he was presented before a judge who ordered him to be held in police custody for three days.
The action has been taken after the controversy that stemmed from a video in which Union Home Minister Amit Shah is allegedly heard expressing his disagreemnet with regards to reservations in the country. The in-depth probe in the case had previously revealed that the video was doctored. Taking the opportunity during his address at a public meeting in Congress-ruled Telangana, Shah actually stated, “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.”
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The situation escalated further as the Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations unit of the Delhi Police issued summons to 16 other individuals across several states. These summons that were issued under Sections 91 and 160 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), called upon the individuals to participate in the investigation and provide relevant documents and electronic devices as evidence.
Among those summoned were six members of the ruling Congress in Telangana, including Chief Minister Revanth Reddy. The individuals were requested to appear for questioning on May 1 at the IFSO unit in Delhi’s Dwarka. CrPC Section 160 allows police to summon individuals for investigation, while Section 91 empowers them to request specific documents or gadgets as evidence.
In response to the events, the BJP’s Telangana unit filed a complaint against Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the Congress’ state chief, accusing them of fabricating and morphing Amit Shah’s speech. The complaint specifically referenced a ‘morphed’ and ‘fabricated’ video of Amit Shah posted on the official X handle of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Party.
Reacting to Reddy’s arrest, Congress MP Manickam Tagore, who serves as the Telangana Congress in-charge, criticized it as a misuse of power by the Union government. Tagore took to social media to demand Reddy’s immediate release, denouncing what he termed as “authoritarian misuse of power by the regime.” The hashtags #ReleaseSpiritOfCongress and #ReleaseArunReddy gained traction online following the arrest.
