Two journalists from Telugu news channel NTV, Input Editor Donthu Ramesh and Reporter Sudheer, were granted conditional bail by the 14th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Hyderabad. Their arrest on January 14, 2026, was in connection with an alleged defamatory news report that insinuated a personal relationship between a woman IAS officer and a state minister, linking her official postings to these claims. The complaint was filed by Jayesh Ranjan, Secretary of the Telangana IAS Officers' Association, who alleged that the content telecast by NTV on January 8 was "completely false, fabricated and baseless." A Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar, was constituted to probe the case. Donthu Ramesh was apprehended at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad while attempting to travel to Bangkok, while Sudheer was arrested from his residence. Another NTV reporter, Paripurna Chari, was reportedly detained for questioning but later released. The magistrate granted bail with conditions including furnishing personal bonds of Rs 20,000 each, surrendering their passports, and not leaving Hyderabad city without court permission. Police had registered cases under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Information Technology (IT) Act, and the Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986, with charges including sexual harassment and insulting a woman's modesty. The arrests triggered strong condemnation from opposition parties like the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and YSR Congress Party, who criticized the police action as an attack on press freedom and democratic values.