Journalist Raghu was arrested from Hyderabad by the Mattampally police in Telangana on Thursday, near his house in Malkajgiri, while he reportedly stepped out to buy groceries amid the lockdown in the state. While initial reports suggested that Raghu had been kidnapped and his family were frantically looking for him, the police later issued a statement that he had been arrested. The journalist wrote for Tolivelugu and other media outlets and was a critic of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

In a statement to his wife, the Station House Officer of the Mattampally Police Station said that Raghu was arrested at 12.45 pm on June 3 near his house, where he was informed of the grounds for his arrest and was later produced before a local court before being remanded into judicial custody.

The Mattampally police in Suryapet district said that they had picked up Raghu with regard to an old case where he had been booked under sections 146,147  and 148 (Rioting), 332 and 333 (Voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) read with 149 (unlawful assembly) of the Indian Penal Code besides relevant sections of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932. Exact details of the case are awaited. Journalist unions and political parties have responded to Raghu’s arrest and condemned the move by the ruling TRS government