Congress targets Chhattisgarh government over arrests of journalists

The Opposition Congress in Chhattisgarh on Sunday alleged that journalists are being “implicated in false cases” in Bastar at the behest of the ruling BJP dispensation.

Journalist Deepak Jaiswal was held on Saturday while another scribe Prabhat Singh was arrested on March 22 by Bastar police on separate charges. “We oppose the arrest of one more journalist Deepak Jaiswal. They are being deliberately harassed by police at the behest of ruling BJP in Bastar. They are being implicated in false cases,” Congress state general secretary Shailesh Nitin Trivedi alleged.

Police are being continuously misused in Bastar to suppress the voices of those who are speaking in open against the alleged loot of minerals in the region, he said.

“Innocent tribals are being killed branding them as Naxals. Neither social activists are being allowed to work in Bastar, nor political leaders. Those who oppose police action, they are being tagged as Maoists,” Trivedi said.

To establish peace in Bastar all steps should be taken which are legitimate under the law of the land, but, in the name of police action, journalists, public representatives and common men should not be harassed, he said.

Prabhat Singh was arrested on March 22 under the Information Technology Act for allegedly posting objectionable content on a Whatsapp group and three other cases. Jaiswal was held yesterday on a complaint for allegedly entering the school premises without permission during an exam and manhandling the staff members.