Amaravati, May 1: A Guntur court granted bail on Friday to Pudi Srihari, a close aide of former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a case linked to allegedly defamatory social media posts against Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
Srihari serves as the General Secretary of the YSR Congress Party’s media department and was previously the Chief Public Relations Officer for Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was re-arrested late Thursday, just hours after being granted bail by a court in Kuppam.
A police team from Kothapeta in Guntur district apprehended him in Kuppam and took him to the Kothapeta police station, where a separate FIR was filed against him on similar charges. This marks the third time in two weeks that Srihari has faced arrest.
The YSRCP condemned the police action, accusing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led coalition government of acting with political vendetta. Tensions escalated at the Guntur government hospital when police barred YSRCP MLC Lella Appireddy from visiting Srihari, who was brought for a medical check-up before being presented in court.
The Guntur court later granted bail to Srihari, who is also a journalist. He claimed that the TDP-led coalition government views journalism as an “organized crime.” Srihari stated that he had never set foot in a police station or court but had been arrested multiple times in just two weeks. He asserted that he had done nothing wrong and felt no fear.
Addressing the media alongside party leaders at the YSRCP office in Guntur, Srihari expressed deep frustration over the repeated arrests and cases filed against him in the past two weeks. He lamented that despite a spotless 26-year career in journalism, he was being treated this way.
He described the portrayal of media coordination work as a “criminal gang” as alarming and dangerous for democracy.
YSRCP General Secretary Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy characterized the incident as a struggle between constitutional values and the abuse of power. He questioned how an individual could be arrested multiple times for the same alleged offense.
Reddy noted that courts had repeatedly rejected police requests for remand and intervened against unconstitutional actions.
Srihari was initially arrested on April 15 in Vijayawada for allegedly posting altered images of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu on social media. He was subsequently taken to Kuppam, where another case was filed against him and another YSRCP official, Girish Kumar Reddy.
On April 16, he was presented before a trial court, which denied the police’s request to place him in judicial remand, leading to his release. However, the Andhra Pradesh High Court later stayed this order.
When the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the High Court’s decision, Kuppam police re-arrested Srihari in Bengaluru on April 29. He was brought back to Kuppam, where he was presented in court on April 30.
My name is Narendra Jijhontiya. I am an experienced content writer with several years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including TECHNOLOGY, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
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