VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh police have launched a multi-city search for filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) after he failed to appear for questioning before Ongole police in Prakasam district of the state for a second time on Monday.
Notices were earlier issued to RGV to appear for questioning after he was booked by the police for allegedly posting defamatory and morphed images of chief minister and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu, his son and IT minister Nara Lokesh, and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan on social media during the promotion of his film ‘Vyooham‘.
The case was registered following a complaint against RGV by Muttanapalli Ramalingam, TDP’s Maddipadu mandal general secretary, on Nov 10.
RGV approached AP high court seeking protection from arrest but his plea was rejected.
Allow virtual mode: Ram Gopal Varma’s legal team
The court directed him to cooperate with the investigation and appear for questioning on Nov 19. However, Varma requested an extension of four days, which was granted and fresh notices were issued asking him to appear before the police on Monday.
After he failed to comply again, a police team from Ongole visited Varma’s residence in Hyderabad but could not find him. After coming to know that he was at Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu to attend a wedding, a team was sent there but he was untraceable. His mobile phone remains switched off.
Police are exploring ways to trace him. While two teams are searching for him in Hyderabad, cops have been posted outside his farmhouses at Shamshabad and Shadnagar. Simultaneously, police are looking for him in Coimbatore, Chennai, and Mumbai.
Meanwhile, a member of Varma’s legal team said in Hyderabad that there is no need for his physical presence in the investigation as Digital India has enabled “digital policing” across the country.
“Give us a virtual mode, and we will cooperate with the investigation. The new Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita permits hybrid-mode probe for minor cases. This case is neither sedition nor connected to international crime,” he told media.
Prakasam district SP, AR Damodar, said the filmmaker proposed to attend the inquiry digitally but police rejected his request. “Despite multiple notices, he failed to respond. We have no choice but to arrest him,” the SP told TOI.
