Two held for spreading fake news on social media in Tirupati

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The Tirupati police on Tuesday arrested two persons for allegedly propagating fake news on social media.

Based on a complaint filed by Prohibition and Excise Inspector (Tirupati Urban), M. Ramachandra, to the Superintendent of Police (SP) L. Subbarayudu, the police swooped down on those spreading fake news on ‘illicit liquor purportedly made available rampantly’, thus posing health hazard to the public in Tirupati.

Primary investigation of the video post led the Additional Superintendent of Police (Law and Order) K. Ravi Manoharachari to the Instagram account @ysrcongressparty_tirupati and subsequently to the Facebook page ‘YSR Congress Party Tirupati’, which captioned news of a man fainting after drinking liquor in Tirupati.

After booking a case in the Tirupati East police station, the Deputy Superintendent M. Bhaktavatsalam used CCTV footage to identify those behind the shooting of the videos.

Police arrested Chandrasekhar Venkatesh (25), working as a personal assistant to YSRCP MLC Cipai Subramanyam, and B. Naveen (38), a close friend of former Deputy Mayor Bhumana Abhinay Reddy.

According to the police, the duo confessed to have recorded the video, edited the contents and added objectionable narrative, in a bid to defame the government, especially the Excise department. The police also checked their WhatsApp messages, call records and timing of the video shared to conclude that they had deliberately embarked on spreading misinformation.

Published - October 15, 2025 08:08 pm IST

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