Hyderabad: The police on Monday (January 12) served a notice on a popular Telugu TV news channel and launched an investigation into another channel and eight accounts on social media platforms in Hyderabad in connection with a case registered against them for airing a news report alleging a love affair between a Telangana minister and a woman IAS officer. The channel and social media platforms involved have been asked to explain the source of their information.On a complaint by the Telangana IAS officers’ association, the police have formed an eight-member special investigation team headed by a Joint Commissioner of Police N. Swetha to complete the probe and file a chargesheet in court expeditiously. Besides Swetha, the team also includes another IPS officer, and the investigation will be conducted under the overall supervision of Hyderabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar. It was alleged in the news clip initially telecast by one of the two news channels that the minister abused his official position by getting the woman officer transferred from the department which was part of his portfolio to his native district as a collector. She was posted as the secretary of the department at the secretariat in Hyderabad until then. He was accused of chatting with her over the phone and undeleted WhatsApp messages were allegedly detected by his family members who took up the matter with chief minister A. Revanth Reddy. The officer was then transferred back to Hyderabad as a collector. The news aired by the TV channel which was later picked up by another channel and eight accounts on social media platforms, including YouTube and X, sparked protests in political and bureaucratic circles against the media houses. The minister himself blamed the media for causing mental anguish to the officer. He also underlined that ministers did not have a role in the transfer of collectors. The whole episode was aimed at bringing disrepute to the government by running a baseless story, the minister alleged. After the IAS officers’ association took up the matter, its secretary, Jayesh Ranjan, lodged a complaint with Hyderabad’s Central Crime Station, alleging that the “widespread circulation of news has subjected the woman officer to cyberstalking and online harassment, causing her immense mental trauma, humiliation and fear”.“The harassment did not end with the telecast. The content including the cheap and unsubstantiated allegations, was deliberately made viral on multiple social media platforms, including YouTube and X,” Ranjan said, listing the names of the platforms in the complaint. As per the complaint, the broadcast, which irresponsibly referred to the so-called family discomfort and alleged phone conversations, is entirely fabricated, defamatory and devoid of any factual verification. “The primary and malicious intent of the news was to target the woman IAS officer personally, assassinate her character and subject her to public ridicule. The accused channel, in a flagrant violation of the woman IAS officer’s privacy, broadcast her personal details such as her previous three postings with an ulterior motive to reveal her identity as no other woman IAS officer served in those three positions during the last two years,” the complaint said.“The use of the information related to her previous postings in conjunction with the false allegations was calculated to sensationalise the news and draw specific attention to the officer’s identity. The specific publication of her postings has stripped her of anonymity and right to privacy, exposing her to potential danger and unwarranted public scrutiny,” the complaint added.Based on Ranjan’s complaint, the police booked a case against nine media houses under sections 75, 78 and 79 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for stalking, harassment and outraging the modesty of a woman and 351 (1) and 352 (2) of the BNS for wilful intent to insult and provoke breach of peace against officers. Earlier, the association issued a statement saying it was deeply disturbed by the cheap and motivated insinuations made regarding postings, wherein it was falsely alleged that women IAS officers were given “comfort postings” within a short span of time. The association viewed the episode as a serious attack on the morale, independence and dignity of civil services. It actively explored all available legal remedies, including civil and criminal action, to ensure accountability of all individuals and entities responsible for the creation and dissemination of defamatory content. Extending solidarity with the woman officer and the IAS officers association, the Telangana IPS officers association issued a separate statement saying women officers across services were discharging their duties with integrity, courage and professionalism, often under demanding circumstances. To malign their reputation through conjecture, leaked or fabricated material, and insinuations about postings or personal conduct is grossly unethical, legally untenable and morally indefensible, the IPS officers association mentioned.This is the second instance of police cases being filed against the media for outrageous comments about women IAS officers; the earlier case involved the management and employees of a weekly English magazine for sexist remarks against a senior officer in the chief minister’s office in 2015. On that occasion, the editor-in-chief, an assistant editor, a cartoonist and others were booked under provisions of the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.A snippet carried by the weekly claimed the bureaucrat served as an “eye candy” at every meeting of the chief minister. A cartoon published alongside showed the officer walking on a ramp in front of a caricature of the chief minister holding a camera. The magazine had clarified that the piece was part of satire carried in the usual course and not intended to be derisive or derogatory. But, the officer refused to accept the regret offered by the magazine and filed a defamation suit against it for Rs 10 crore. The state government had given her Rs 15 lakh as legal aid to fight the case. The amount included court fee for civil defamation and lawyer’s fee.