Kadir Güntepe, former governor of the Beytüşşebap district of the southeastern province of Şırnak, was detained on charges of using ByLock, a smart phone application that authorities believe is a communication tool between members of the Gülen movement.
Police teams reportedly conducted a search of a house belonging to Güntepe and seized some documents. Media reports said detention warrants were also issued for several others as part of the same investigation.
Tens of thousands of civil servants, police officers and businessmen have either been dismissed or arrested for using the application.
Güntepe previously came to public attention after Ankara Municipality Mayor Melih Gökçek praised him in tweets posted on social media.
In one of his tweets Gökçek called on everyone to follow Güntepe on Twitter to see “how well Beytüşşebap is doing.”
“We are proud of you, Kadir Güntepe. I call on all social media users to follow him on Twitter against spam,” Gökçek tweeted.
