Imagine a mother’s worst nightmare unfolding in broad daylight. On May 9, 23-year-old Gade Sai Krishna, a young gig worker, is allegedly picked up by police from Krishna Lanka station in Vijayawada. For the next forty-one agonising days, his mother, Gade Vijaya Lakshmi, is left pleading at the same station gates. No answers. No trace of her son.
Just intimidation, humiliation and officials cruelly suggesting she garland his photograph instead of searching for him. Her desperate cries echo through the corridors of power: “Show me my son, or at least give me his ashes.” Yet the state offers neither truth nor closure. This is not a scene from a dystopian film. This is the chilling reality of Andhra Pradesh under Chandrababu Naidu’s government, where citizens disappear and the machinery of the state closes ranks to bury the truth.
The custodial disappearance that shames the system
Sai Krishna’s ordeal exposes a terrifying collapse of accountability. His mother approached senior officers with written complaints, all in vain. Even a Habeas Corpus petition filed in the Andhra Pradesh High Court on June 2 failed to immediately pierce the veil of silence. The court directed authorities to produce him on June 29, but the family alleges evasion persisted. A video statement by Mahankali Chandu later revealed horrifying details: Sai Krishna allegedly tied to the ceiling and brutally beaten inside the station. A case was registered only after public outrage mounted and that too, mostly against one Circle Inspector. Higher officials, including the Vijayawada Commissioner and Director General of Police, face serious questions of dereliction.
The subsequent smear campaign branding Sai Krishna a “rowdy-sheeter” and “mafia don” only fuels suspicions of a cover-up. His mother’s piercing rebuttal exposes the lie: if her son was such a dangerous criminal, why was he surviving as a gig worker in another city? How does a young man vanish in police custody? How can a mother’s pleas go unanswered for over a month despite complaints, senior interventions and judicial scrutiny? These are not administrative lapses. They point to a dangerous culture of impunity and authoritarian high-handedness.
Relentless persecution of voices of dissent
The Sai Krishna tragedy is no isolated horror. It mirrors a systematic two-year assault on dissent across Andhra Pradesh. Senior journalist, ex-MLC, and respected political analyst Prof. K. Nageshwar was slapped with multiple FIRs under serious BNS sections for comments in a TV debate on political alliances. Despite withdrawing his remarks and the Jana Sena leadership declaring the matter closed, Andhra Pradesh Police rushed to Hyderabad. Telangana Police had to deploy security at his residence fearing detention. Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan then publicly boasted, with sarcasm, that he had intervened to stop the arrest. The message was unmistakable: criticism of those in power will not be tolerated.
The repression has mercilessly targeted even comedians for jokes made years earlier. Hyderabad-based Anudeep Kakitala was arrested through an interstate police operation. Sarat Uday’s Bengaluru show was disrupted by TDP supporters who forced public apologies and political slogans. Rafiq faced detention amid orchestrated outrage. When police resources chase satirists across state borders and humour is criminalised under provisions for “public mischief” and “promoting enmity,” it reveals a regime terrified of laughter, satire, and uncomfortable truths.
The police as social media censors
Most insidious is the government’s aggressive digital censorship apparatus. A Circle Inspector from Kothapeta Police Station in Guntur openly wrote to global platforms including X, demanding removal of content critical of the ruling dispensation. Criticism of the Amaravati project, alleged land scams, support for decentralisation, and the three-capitals model was branded as “coordinated political messaging,” “propaganda,” and “emotional content.”
Videos featuring former minister Perni Venkatramaih questioning injustices to Amaravati farmers, posts by Jagananna Connects, and content on alleged irregularities involving B.R. Naidu were systematically targeted. Takedown notices flooded accounts over the Tirumala Laddu controversy, Indapur-Heritage links, the Kurnool bus accident and even a simple video of a woman questioning the government in Srikalahasti. X issued multiple compliance notices to opposition handles. Thousands of videos, reels, and posts have been erased through this police-driven campaign.
The questions that demand answers
The Chandrababu Naidu government must answer uncomfortable questions: Why does every voice of criticism, a grieving mother’s plea, a journalist’s analysis, a comedian’s joke, or a citizen’s social media post, invite police action and takedowns? Why is the state apparatus being misused to harass families and suppress questions about governance and public funds? What has become of constitutional guarantees of free speech, personal liberty, and accountability?
This pattern of custodial horrors, weaponised FIRs, and social media purges is strangling Andhra Pradesh’s democracy. A full, independent CBI investigation into the Sai Krishna case is non-negotiable. Broader judicial scrutiny of the censorship regime and police overreach must follow without delay.
Mothers must never be forced to beg for their children’s ashes. Journalists and comedians must never fear FIRs for speaking truth. Citizens must never have their voices digitally erased for holding power accountable. Andhra Pradesh deserves a government that serves its people, not one that silences and suppresses them. The soul of our democracy hangs in the balance. The time to reclaim it is now.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
