Andhra Pradesh police arrested TV5 executive editor Brahmananda Reddy and input editor Venkata Krishna for airing a report on their channel that that alleged the involvement of the Reliance group in the death of Andra Pradesh Chief Minister YSR Reddy in a helicopter crash in December 2009.
The report, aired on January 7 by TV5 channel and the Saakshi network, owned by son of the late Chief Minister, Y.S Jaganmohan Reddy, was attributed to a website registered in Russia. It suggested that a dispute over the sharing of petroleum and natural gas resources may have been behind the alleged conspiracy against the Chief Minister. The airing of the report resulted in rioting and damage to the property of the corporate house.
Journalists unions have condemned the arrest of their colleagues and deplored attempts to make them scapegoats