Hyderabad, May 1 (IANS): Hyderabad police on Wednesday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader Manne Krishank for allegedly posting a fake letter of the Osmania University (OU) chief warden and terming the letter posted by Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on OU hostels' closure as fake.
Krishank, who is social media convenor of BRS, was stopped by police near Panthangi checkpost when he was returning to Hyderabad from Kothagudem.
He posted on 'X' that Crime Inspector Choutuppal was sitting in his car and taking him to Choutuppal Police Station. "Don't know why," he wrote.
Krishank and a OU student Nagender were arrested for allegedly circulating fake news over the closure of OU hostels.
The OU chief warden has filed a complaint at the OU police station for forging his signature. Krishank earlier posted two letters on ‘X’ claiming that the letter posted by the Chief Minister was fake and also posted a similar letter terming it to be genuine.
The BRS leader was booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) 466 forgery of record of court or of public register, etc), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation) 505 (1) C (statements conducing to public mischief).
Krishank had earlier alleged that after the formation of the Congress government four months ago, six illegal cases have been booked against him.
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had also slammed BRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao for spreading lies on the closure of Osmania University hostels. He had clarified that the closure notice was issued as per the University almanac.
The Chief Minister shared a similar notice issued by the Osmania University authorities last year when the BRS was in power. The notice contained information on the closure of hostels due to summer vacation and also mentioned that the hostels were being closed due to an acute shortage of power and water.
He accused KCR of running propaganda that OU hostels were shut down only after Congress came to power.
The controversy erupted after students complained of water and electricity shortages on the campus. Subsequently, the Chief Warden issued a notice that hostels would be closed due to summer vacation. The notice also mentions power and water shortages as reasons.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka stated that there was no water scarcity or power disruption on the campus and that the Chief Warden's statement was related to summer vacation.