New Delhi: A stand-up comedian was detained by the Kakinada police in Prayagraj on April 14 over allegations that his online video insulted Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan.Anudeep Katikala was apprehended at approximately 7 pm on April 14. He is currently being transported on a train to Kakinada, accompanied by his parents, according to information provided by his family to this reporter. A lawyer who reviewed a copy of the First Information Report (FIR) emphasised that the police action constitutes a detention rather than a formal arrest. Police personnel have allowed Katikala access to his mobile phone, and The Wire is currently in contact with him.The FIR (No. 62/2026) was registered at the Kakinada I Town police station at 1.15 pm on April 11 by Inspector Mandala Naga Durgarao. It followed a written complaint by 51-year-old Bade Venkata Krishna, a resident of Canal Road, Jagannadapuram. The complainant stated he has served as a Jana Sena Party (JSP) worker since 2014 and the Joint Secretary of the East Godavari District JSP since 2022.Kalyan’s party JSP is part of the National Democratic Alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.According to the FIR, accessed by The Wire, the complainant viewed a 29.57-second video on the YouTube channel ‘Anudeep Katikala Official’ at 10:00 hours on April 11. The complaint alleges that the video targeted Kalyan and his family members, damaging their reputation with sarcasm and vulgar language, and spreading false information to disrupt peace and incite enmity.FIR and legal chargesThe FIR charges Katikala under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000. Under the BNS, he faces charges under Section 356(2) for criminal defamation, penalising intentional false statements intended to harm a person’s reputation; Section 353(2) for statements conducing to public mischief, addressing the circulation of false information to create enmity between groups; and Section 79 for any word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. Furthermore, the police invoked Section 67 of the IT Act, which prohibits publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form.Katikala, an IIT Bombay graduate and founder of the Hyderabad-based Silly South Comedy Club, recently performed a set titled ‘The Tollywood Roast Show.’ The performance addressed actors from what he referred to as Telugu cinema’s “mega family,” led by actor Chiranjeevi, who is Kalyan’s older brother and actor Ram Charan’s father.In the viral video, Katikala referenced Kalyan’s marriages, stating: “One thing I learnt from Pawan Kalyan is how to divorce your wife. All men should learn it.”He suggested that Kalyan’s recently divorced niece, Niharika Konidela, could take advice from him, adding that the deputy chief minister’s divorces appeared amicable without allegations of mistreatment. Political rivals from the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) have frequently used the comedian’s clips on social media to mock Kalyan.Katikala also joked about Charan being a “feminist” because his wife, Upasana Kamineni Konidela – vice-chairperson of corporate social responsibility at Apollo Hospitals – is purportedly wealthier than him.Speaking earlier to The News Minute, Katikala stated he was attempting to redefine a misogynistic Telugu expletive, which traditionally insults a man living off his wife’s earnings, into a feminist compliment signifying a man secure in his masculinity. He added that the set also included jokes about fans of actor Balakrishna, the rivalry between fans of Kalyan and Mahesh Babu, and his own weight gain, which he jokingly attributed to actor Junior NTR’s appearance in the 2006 film Rakhi.Viral video and backlashFollowing the release of the video, Katikala issued an apology. However, the footage continued to trigger severe backlash. On April 11, Sandeep Dhanapala, a fan of the actors, allegedly arrived with a group at The Street comedy club in Hyderabad. Though Katikala was absent, the group allegedly hurled misogynistic abuse, intimidated a performing comedian, Bhagat Anukanti, and demanded Katikala’s phone number before the venue owner convinced them to leave.JSP leader Sandeep Panchakarla, the party in-charge for Bheemili, demanded an apology and threatened legal consequences. The Wire reached out to Panchakarla for a comment, but he did not respond. Kiran Royal, another JSP leader – who is currently facing separate accusations of extortion and intimidation from a woman – threatened Katikala and called for his imprisonment to set a precedent. Neither Kalyan nor Charan have issued statements restraining their supporters.Artistic community reactsMembers of the artistic community have criticised the police action. “If the line they are drawing is that we can’t mock a politician or a celebrity, are we allowed to disagree, condemn freely now/ever. Of course a comedian on the internet is a low hanging fruit for them, to make an example out of. Anudeep’s passion for comedy is insane and his interest has always been to talk about social issues. He wanted to speak of the absurd nature of the system. He is a budding comedian building his language of comedy, figuring the style that works for the audience. Hope he gets to practice post all this noise too,” Tabita Percy, a Hyderabad-based visual artist, told The Wire.Vivek Muralidharan, a Hyderabad-based stand-up comedian, speaking with The Wire, remarked with satire: “I would like to salute the Kakinada police for the courage, bravery, sincerity and dedication shown by them in going all the way to Prayagraj and arresting someone for cracking jokes. It is because of them that the powerful can sleep peacefully at night without the threat of being mocked.”Historical patternThe detention fits into a broader historical pattern of comedians facing legal consequences for political or religious satire in India. The mobilised state machinery against Katikala echoes the January 2021 arrest of Munawar Faruqui in Indore, who spent a month in jail based on a complaint by a politician’s son even before a performance began.Similarly, Kunal Kamra, who faced contempt of court proceedings in 2020 regarding tweets about the Supreme Court, was subjected to an FIR and venue vandalism at Mumbai’s Habitat Comedy Club in early 2025 over a set purportedly mocking Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. Shinde was not named in the set.Other performers have faced similar challenges: Vir Das faced police complaints in 2021 over his ‘I Come From Two Indias’ monologue; Samay Raina faced an FIR in Assam in 2025 alleging obscenity regarding his YouTube show India’s Got Latent; Agrima Joshua was subjected to online abuse and threats in 2020 over a joke involving a Quora thread about Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj; and Kiku Sharda was arrested in 2016 for mimicking Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.