On Tuesday night, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police raided the office of Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) strategist Sunil Kanugolu and detained five persons for allegedly making abusive and obscene comments on social media about Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao.
The police also confiscated multiple mobile phones, laptop computers, and other office equipment, alleging that they were used to publish the alleged disparaging comments.
K V M Prasad, Assistant Commissioner of Police for Cyber Crimes, conducted the operation. He said that they had received five complaints about disinformation and insulting remarks being uploaded from IP addresses coming from Kanugolu’s workplace near Inorbit Mall. “They were masking IP addresses or using fake IPs to post the objectionable content but we were able to track it down to this office,” Prasad said, adding that the raid was conducted after the complaints were registered by five different individuals.
Meanwhile, Congress MP Manickam Tagore turned to Twitter on Wednesday morning at 7.20 a.m. and published the original message and photographs that triggered the searches and arrests of Congress employees in Hyderabad.
For this FB post Telangana Congress War room headed by #SunilKanugolu team at Hyderabad was raided and 50 computers taken … Data stolen …
— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳✋மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) December 14, 2022
Five of our Proffesional partners arrested illegally without FIR ..
Now I am posting the same let @TelanganaCMO arrest me …#HitlerKCR pic.twitter.com/6SonRAHRdZ
He went on to say that police took over 50 laptops, seized data, and wrongfully detained five of the Congress’ professional partners. He shared the photographs that sparked the controversy and dared KCR to arrest him. He also shared the alleged derogatory images and wrote, “For this FB post-Telangana Congress War room headed by #SunilKanugolu team at Hyderabad was raided and 50 computers taken, Data stolen, Five of our Professional partners arrested illegally without FIR. Now I am posting the same let @TelanganaCMO arrest me. #HitlerKCR.”
Congress condemns raids against Sunil Kanugolu
Congress MP KC Venugopal also moved to Twitter to condemn the police operation and arrests, claiming that the searches and seizures were intended at deactivating the INC war room, which was currently in full flow.
The action of Cyberabad police in seizing the office of #SunilKanugolu is a blatant attempt to suppress dissent.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) December 13, 2022
It is aimed at defunctioning @INCTelangana war room which is at full swing.Come what may,we will continue our crusade against corruption by Telangana CM & his family pic.twitter.com/KWQZk6For0
Another senior politician, MP Revanth Reddy, stated that the cyber police terrorizing the personnel in the Congress’ war room simply demonstrated KCR’s fear of Congress. He further said that no copy of any FIR was presented or made accessible to Congress leaders before their detention. “The action of Cyberabad police in seizing the office of #SunilKanugolu is a blatant attempt to suppress dissent,” he said further.
కాంగ్రెస్ వార్ రూమ్ పై పోలీసుల దాడి హేయం. ప్రజల తరపున ప్రశ్నించే ప్రతిపక్షం పై దాడి చేయడమంటే ప్రజాస్వామ్యం పై దాడి చేయడమే.
— Revanth Reddy (@revanth_anumula) December 13, 2022
నగర పోలీసు కమిషనరేట్ వద్ద నిరసన, మండల కేంద్రాల్లో రేపు సీఎం దిష్టిబొమ్మ దగ్ధం చేసి నిరసన తెలపాల్సిందిగా కాంగ్రెస్ శ్రేణులను కోరుతున్నాను. pic.twitter.com/TEGhFlQQKG
Meanwhile, MP Manickam Tagore had already stated on Twitter that the police personnel had not submitted a search warrant and that no notice had been issued in accordance with Section 41(A) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. “Without following due process of law, KCR police have arrested our staff. No search warrant and no notice under 41A CrPC was given. Complete violation of SC judgment in DK Basu case.@KTRTRS & Commi CV Anand will be held accountable for this lawlessness,” a tweet by Manickam Tagore read.
Sunil Kanugolu is a polling strategist and political analyst who has worked with the DMK, AIADMK, and the BJP. Reports mention that he is mentoring Congress on the forthcoming state elections in Karnataka and will be in charge of all state assembly elections for the party.
He oversaw the BJP’s electoral strategy in the 2017 UP assembly elections. In 2019, he was in charge of the DMK’s Lok Sabha election strategy and the AIADMK’s electoral campaign for the Tamil Nadu assembly elections in 2021. He was also credited for bolstering the AIADMK’s strategies and presence in the absence of former Chief Minister and party supremo Jayalalithaa.
