YouTuber Prasna Ravan remanded in custody as Krishna police invoke UAPA

The Krishna district police have registered a case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967, and other charges against YouTuber Prasna Ravan.

The Gannavaram police arrested Mr. Ravan on Sunday and produced him in court. After hearing arguments for more than an hour, the judge remanded him to judicial custody.

Activists of several rights groups faulted the police for booking Mr. Ravan under the UAPA. Members of the Human Rights Forum said elected representatives were filing cases against those who questioned them, and harassing them with false cases.

The case so far

The action against Mr. Ravan began on June 30, when the Kakinada district police arrested him at his home in Hyderabad over his remarks against Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan at a meeting in Eluru on June 28. That case was booked under the Information Technology Act, 2000, on a Jana Sena Party leader’s complaint, and he was produced before a Pithapuram court.

In the four days that followed, the Sarpavaram, Payakaraopeta and Machilipatnam police registered four more cases against him. He was granted bail in all four.

On Sunday, the Gannavaram police invoked the UAPA, on a complaint by G. Shiva Kumar alleging that Mr. Ravan propagated CPI-Maoist ideology and gave an inciting speech at the Dalita Samara Shankaravam in Eluru. It is the gravest charge against him yet.