The Telangana government has relieved Hyderabad Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Crimes) V. Aravind Babu of his responsibilities, two days after the Cyber Crime Police registered FIRs against Meta India head Arun Srinivas and several Facebook and Instagram accounts over allegedly objectionable content targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to official sources, Aravind Babu has been directed to report to the State Police Headquarters with immediate effect. The transfer follows reports that the state government took a serious view of the manner in which the cases were registered and handled by the Cyber Crime wing.
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The controversy stems from complaints alleging that morphed videos, edited images and other objectionable content related to the Prime Minister were circulated on Facebook and Instagram during the recent Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests over the NEET paper leak issue.
Based on these complaints, the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police registered multiple FIRs on Thursday against Arun Srinivas, the India head of Meta, along with several social media accounts accused of sharing or hosting the disputed content. The cases were filed under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The complaints were reportedly submitted by S. Aravind, who alleged that the posts were defamatory, misleading and intended to provoke public outrage by spreading manipulated content on social media platforms.
The FIRs quickly attracted national attention, particularly because they named the India head of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. The development also sparked debate over the responsibility of social media platforms in moderating content and the extent of liability of company executives for user-generated posts.
In the wake of the controversy, the Telangana government is understood to have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the registration of the cases. While no official reason has been cited for relieving Aravind Babu of his duties, sources indicated that the government was dissatisfied with the procedural handling of the FIRs.
Officials have not clarified whether the transfer is linked directly to the investigation or forms part of a broader administrative review. Likewise, there has been no announcement regarding any changes to the ongoing investigation into the alleged circulation of the objectionable material.
The FIRs against Meta India and the identified social media accounts remain under investigation. Authorities are expected to examine the origin of the posts, the role of individual account holders and whether any provisions of the BNS or the IT Act were violated.
The episode has once again highlighted the growing legal and regulatory challenges surrounding social media platforms in India, particularly in cases involving politically sensitive content and questions of accountability for online material.
