Two days after a bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana lamented that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and other agencies "were not helping the judiciary," the agency said it had arrested five people over the past month for allegedly posting offensive content on social media against judges and law enforcement officials.
The arrest was made in an unrelated case in which an investigation was opened by the CBI last November by order of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. Officials who declined to be named said they also interviewed a member of Lok Sabha - N Suresh and a former MPP - Amanchi Krishnamohan, both of the YSR Parliament, in the case to uncover a major plot.
Five people arrested by the main agency are Pattapu Aadarsh and Lavanuru Samba Siva Reddy from Andhra Pradesh (arrested Saturday); Dhami Reddy Konda Reddy and Pamula Sudheer (arrested July 28) and Lingareddy Rajasekhar Reddy (arrested July 9 while arriving in Kuwait). “We are following the movements of Lingareddy. The moment he landed in India, the officers arrested him, ”said one of the officers cited above.
CBI spokesperson RC Joshi said: “It is alleged that the accused, by intentionally targeting the judiciary, posted offensive messages on social media platforms against judges and judicial authorities, after that a number of court rulings have been issued by high court judges in Andhra Pradesh. "
After registering the case, the CBI traced 13 of the 16 defendants named in the First Information Report (FIR) on various digital platforms, he said.
Both defendants are believed to be living in the United States while another is also overseas somewhere, a second official said.
“So far, we examined 11 of the 13 accused and arrested 5 of them. The evidence against the remaining six defendants is being evaluated for further legal proceedings. CBI is pursuing the case to obtain the presence of two other defendants who will be overseas to interrogate them,” Joshi added.