BRS activist Nalla Balu arrested again for retweeting a social media post, after court granted him bail

BRS worker Shashidhar Goud was rearrested moments after being released from Karimnagar jail, despite securing bail, for retweeting a political post. Party leaders, including KTR, condemned the repeated arrests and warned police against political excesses.

Hyderabad: Social media activist and BRS worker Shashidhar Goud alias Nalla Balu was rearrested on Thursday morning, moments after his release from Karimnagar prison. His arrest was in connection with retweeting a political post by the official BRS handle on platform X.

Despite being granted bail by the Additional District Court in Godavarikhani on Tuesday, Shashidhar was arrested again by Ramagundam police in a similar case. Earlier, five separate FIRs were lodged against him for the retweet in Karimnagar, Ramagundam, Hyderabad, and Godavarikhani. The Karimnagar Cyber Crime police initially arrested him suo motu on June 29.

BRS leaders allege that Shashidhar was in jail for 16 days merely for sharing a political post that contains no abusive or false content. A police team had arrived Wednesday evening to arrest him but left due to a crowd gathered outside the jail.

Responding to the arrest, BRS working president KT Rama Rao condemned the repeated arrests, warning officials against setting such “terrible precedents.” He reminded the police that no one remains in power forever and when the BRS comes to power, every such police excess will be reviewed. “We have full faith in judiciary and we will continue to fight and defend our democratic rights,” he added.