Krishank Manne, the social media convenor of BRS, was arrested by the Hyderabad police in connection with an alleged forgery case on Wednesday, May 1. Krishank was detained at the Panthangi toll gate while he was returning to Hyderabad from Kothagudem where he was intercepted by the police.
Krishank was arrested based on the complaint of Osmania University (OU) chief warden of hostels and mess who had accused him of creating and circulating fake circulars regarding the closure of hostels and mess facilities at OU. Recently, Osmania University had announced that all the hostel residents should be evicted owing to water scarcity in the university. This led to a social media campaign by Krishank, who shared a “forged” circular issued by the university highlighting the alleged water and electricity crisis under the newly-formed Congress government. Promptly reacting to the incident, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka dismissed the reports of water scarcity in the university. Subsequently, the university Registrar issued a show-cause notice to the Chief Warden for issuing a statement “without verifying facts.”
The Chief Warden later filed a complaint against Krishank. On April 1, the BRS leader was booked under Sections 466 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for harming the reputation), and 505(1)(C) (public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code.
After a day of investigation, Krishank was arrested for circulating an alleged fake circular from the chief warden of the university, as well as another letter claiming to be from Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy.
According to the remand report, Krishank, “being young, energetic, and active on social media, was deemed capable of instigating rivalries between political parties.” The police expressed concerns about the possibility of Krishank “committing further offences, especially in light of the upcoming elections.” They added that his arrest was necessary to prevent him from tampering with evidence.
Reacting to the arrest of Krishank, BRS working president KT Rama Rao termed it an “illegal arrest.” “Krishank’s arrest is atrocious and illegal! Krishank is the voice of people’s movements, a symbol of Dalit consciousness, and a reflection of youth. Krishank is arrested only because he questioned gully Congress party’s failures and Delhi BJP’s oppressions. Congress and BJP will pay a heavy price for their joint witch hunt. These dictatorial acts will be punished in Telangana people’s court. Then, we saw emergency. Now, we are witnessing an undeclared emergency. The Congress-BJP will meet the same fate as faced by the then rulers for their onslaught on democracy. Our legal team is pursuing the matter and we will make sure justice will prevail,” he said on social media.