CID arrests Ankababu for posting false info on social media to discredit CMO

Vijayawada: AP’s crime investigation police have arrested former journalist and social media activist Kollu Ankababu on charges of posting false information on social media platforms “to create animosity among social groups, undermine the dignity of the chief minister’s office and cause law and order problems.” The arrest was made on Thursday night.

Earlier in the day, based on a complaint lodged by the manager of the chief minister’s office, T Ramesh, a case was booked at the CID police station in Mangalagiri under various sections of the IPC.

It was on Sept. 9 that the accused Ankababu posted “false information” on WhatsApp groups that a “huge quantity of gold was seized by the Customs at Vijayawada airport from a woman who arrived from Dubai. He had also stated that she was the wife of a senior officer in the CMO. He had also stated that the customs team came from Hyderabad to effect the arrest.

“Air India officials extended support to her and the customs officials interrogated the woman and the Air India staff,” he had written in a post.

The CID police said that in the course of their inquiry, it was found that the woman caught with gold at the airport was in no way linked to the CM’s office.

When the CID police went to the house of the accused to serve a notice under section 41 (A) of CrPC on Thursday night, he refused to accept it and in turn tried to delete evidence of the posts from his mobile phone.

“As his posts were meant to create animosity between two social groups and to cause breach of law and order, the police arrested him and seized his mobile phone,” police said.

Police said that the accused had in the past been booked under nearly 20 cases relating to financial issues in Krishna, West Godavari, Srikakulam and Kurnool districts. “He had worked as a journalist and at present he is active in social media platforms,” police said.