The Andhra Pradesh police have launched a multi-city search for filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma after he failed to appear for the second time on November 25 for questioning before the Ongole police in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh. Notices were issued to Varma after he was booked by the police for posting allegedly defamatory and morphed images of AP chief minister and TDP chief 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 on November 10 following a complaint against Ram Gopal Varma by Muttanapalli Ramalingam, the general secretary of TDP’s Maddipadu mandal. The filmmaker approached the AP high court for protection from arrest but his plea was rejected. The court directed him to cooperate with the investigation and appear for interrogation on November 19. In response, Varma requested for an extension of four days, which was granted. A fresh notice was issued, asking him to appear before the police on November 25. After he failed to attend on November 25 too, a police team from Ongole visited his residence in Hyderabad but could not find him. After learning that he was in Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) to attend a wedding, a team was sent there but he was untraceable and his mobile phone was switched off.
According to the filmmaker’s legal team, there is no need for Varma’s physical presence as Digital India has enabled “digital policing”. The team added, “…RGV (Ram Gopal Varma) made no mistake. This is neither sedition nor international mafia. We will follow the rule of law.” A member of the legal team said that Varma’s response was sent to police through Whatsapp and speed post, “which were not yet responded to by the police”.
A police officer from the team probing the case said, “He failed to respond to multiple notices. We have no choice but to arrest him.”