Rebel YSRCP who sought Jagan's bail cancellation arrested by AP police; Sedition charges slapped

Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, the YSRCP 'rebel' MP was charged with 'indulging in hate speech against certain communities'

The Andhra Pradesh CID police have arrested Raghu Rama Krishna Raju, the YSRCP “rebel” MP who had last month petitioned the CBI court to cancel the bail of Chief Minister Jaganmohan Reddy.

The arrest was made from the MP's Hyderabad residence on Friday evening.

According to the AP government sources, Raju was arrested on the charges of “indulging in hate speeches against certain communities and promoting disaffection against the government.”

Raju was booked under sections 124A (sedition), 153 A (promoting enmity between groups), and 505 read with 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.

Raju, also an industrialist, appears regularly on certain Telugu TV channels with what is seen as unfavourable commentary on various policies of Reddy's government and actions of YSRCP leaders.

“A preliminary inquiry by the CID found that through his speeches on a regular basis, Raju was indulging in a systematic, schematic effort to cause tensions among the communities and attacking various government dignitaries in a way which will cause loss of faith in the government which they represent. Series of attempts have been made to this effect,” CMO sources said, adding that Raju's “hate speech against communities and social groups to foment social and public disorder was in conspiracy with a few media channels”.

Raju began his political career with the YSRCP when the party was launched a decade ago. However, he moved on to the BJP and later, to the TDP. Just ahead of the last general elections, Raju rejoined the YSRCP and won from the Narasapuram Lok Sabha seat in April 2019. But relations between Raju and Jagan soured soon after.

In June last year, averring threat to his life from his own party members, Raju wrote to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla seeking protection, alleging AP police's inaction on his complaints.

The YSRCP parliamentarians led by their leader Vijayasai Reddy had then met the speaker seeking disqualification of Raju on the charges of anti-party activities.

Jagan, arrested in the disproportionate assets case by the CBI in May 2012, has been out on bail since September 2013. Alleging that the CM is influencing the persons involved in the case, Raju is asking for the trial completion at the earliest.