YSRCP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday attacked Chandrababu Naidu-led NDA government over arrest of 49 social media activists.
"The TDP-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has served 680 notices to the opposition party's social media activists, registered 147 cases and arrested 49 of them," Reddy alleged.
He suspected that only a few harassment cases came to the fore while a lot more party activists were being oppressed.
The government could at most issue a "CrPC 41A notice for a social media post it dislikes", but it could not allegedly pick people up and beat them, the former CM asserted.
"Booking a 41A notice (CrPC) is the maximum it can do. That’s where it ends. You cannot take people and beat them up—that’s not acceptable," Reddy said, speaking at a press conference at his Tadepalli residence.
Police booked 86 'false' cases: YSRCP
The Opposition party in Andhra, earlier, also levelled the same allegation against the state police, claiming as many as 86 cases have been filed against its social media activists during the past three days.
The YSR Congress Party on November 5, in a press statement, said the activists have been vocal about government shortcomings on social media and alleged that they are being targeted with false cases and subjected to police harassment.
In a troubling trend, YSRCP activists, including farmers and social media coordinators, have faced arrests often without notice, the party said.
"The crackdown extends beyond individual cases, with arrests reported across multiple districts based on complaints by TDP members.
For example, 61 cases have been registered in NTR District alone, alongside cases in Srikakulam, Nellore, West Godavari, and several others," it stated.
(With PTI inputs)
