Ex-TDP minister Devineni Uma booked for circulating doctored video of Jagan

Amaravati: The sleuths of the Crime Investigation Department (CID), Andhra Pradesh, booked former TDP minister Devineni Uma on 11 April for circulating a doctored video of Chief Minister Y.S Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Ahead of the Tirupati by-polls, the former minister, during a press conference on 7 April, had claimed that Jagan had belittled Tirupati town. He had then displayed a video where the CM can be seen asking "who wants to come to Tirupati?".

Following this, an advocate from Kurnool, Narayana Reddy, filed a complaint saying the video, which was edited, showed the Chief Minister in a bad light. He said in the original video Jagan was talking about the difficulties involved in attracting talent to cities like Tirupati from bigger cities like Hyderabad. "The CM was discussing the lack of specialists in SWIMS Hospital, Tirupati, and was expressing his desire to change the situation. The original video was selectively and mischievously edited to give the impression that the CM was belittling the town," he said, adding the video is from a 2014 speech during the release of the election manifesto.

The CID found that this clip from the 2014 video had been edited and added to another video from 2019 CM's review to make it look like the video was recent.

"The complainant has submitted relevant video clips in support of his claim. After due verification, a case under Sections 464 and 465 of the IPC (forgery of an electronic document), 468 (forgery for cheating), 471 (using forged document as genuine), and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) has been filed against the minister. An investigation in underway," CID chief Sunil Kumar told NewsMeter.