Delhi Police has arrested journalist Pushp Sharma for allegedly fabricating an RTI reply to publish a news report claiming that the government was discriminating against Muslims and denying them jobs of yoga trainers in the Ayush Ministry.
“Sharma has been arrested under charges of cheating, forgery and promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc in connection with a case registered a Kotla Mubarakpur Police Station,” Additional DCP (South) Nupur Prasad said on Saturday.
In March, the Delhi-based journalist was booked in the case which was registered days after his report ‘We don’t recruit Muslims: Modi govt’s Ayush ministry’ appeared in Milli Gazette, a fortnightly English language newspaper.
After registration of the FIR, police grilled Sharma, who is a resident of Dayanand Colony in southeast Delhi, for at least three consecutive days but he was arrested on Friday evening, police said, adding that he was produced at a city court on Saturday.
Zafarul-Islam Khan, chief editor of the Milli Gazette, said, “The Ayush Ministry FIR against the journalist and the Press Council of India's suo moto action are clear attempts to stifle the freedom of the press.”
“While the Ayush Ministry was quick to file a complaint with the police, it failed to make any contact in any manner with the news magazine. Moreover, the PCI, instead of protecting journalists and media publications, seems to be taking the side of the government,” he alleged.
A senior cop said Sharma had earlier been arrested in 2009 on the charge of extorting government officials by threatening sting operations on them. There were also allegations that Sharma tried to extort police officers on one occasion.