UAPA invoked against Youtuber Bachalakuri Joseph for alleged provocative video

Metro India News | Krishna

Andhra Police have invoked stringent UAPA against Youtuber Bachalakuri Joseph, who has identified himself as 'Prashna Raavan', for an alleged provocative video he had uploaded seven months ago, a police official said on Monday.

Gannavaram Police from Krishna district arrested Joseph on July 4 at Vempadu toll plaza in Nakkapalli. He was produced in a local court, which remanded him to 14 days. "With the assistance of Anakapalli police, we arrested him under the UAPA Act," the official said. On Monday morning, Gannavaram Police handed Joseph over to Nellore Central Jail, where he is currently lodged.

According to police, the video posted by Jospeh on November 25, 2025 was "very provocative" in nature, which allegedly "supported and encouraged banned organisations such as the Maoists."In the video, police alleged that Joseph had added pictures of encountered Maoists such as Hidma, Keshava Rao and others.

Joseph was arrested multiple times in the southern state and in most of the cases he managed to procure bail, but the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) case registered by the Gannavaram Police got him remanded for a fortnight, until July 18. Joseph's legal troubles started in the wake of a speech he gave last week of June at a Dalit Christian meeting in Eluru, where he attacked the ruling party leaders over their alleged inaction against Dalit atrocities in the state.

He also criticised a monk, Radha Manohar Das, for allegedly disparaging Islam and Christianity with impunity. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh State Committee of Human Rights Forum (HRF) said that the registration of a case under UAPA Sections 13 and 39 against Jospeh "illustrates the level to which the Police Department has stooped to impress the ruling dispensation," the TDP-led NDA government.

"Though the language and the statements he (Joseph) made were objectionable, he is being harassed because those remarks were directed against the government in power, particularly against Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan," HRF said in a release. It also said that it has become a "common place" to witness draconian legal provisions being applied against common people, youtubers and comedians when they talk against people from the ruling parties, it said.