NEW DELHI, Nov 14: An FIR has been filed against two women journalists in Tripura on a complaint made by a Vishwa Hindu Parishad activist allegedly for spreading fake news. The journalists – Sammriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha – who said they were covering the recent incidents of violence in the state, alleged that the cops came to their hotel early this morning and “intimidated” them. The journalists were later detained by the police.
The FIR against Samriddhi K Sakunia and Swarna Jha, based on a complaint by local Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists, was registered at Fatikroy police station in Unakoti district.
In a tweet, Sakunia wrote, “We have been detained at the Nilambazar police station, Karimganj, Assam. We were informed by the officer-in-charge of Nilambazar PS that SP of Gomti District gave the orders for our detention.”
Jha told the media over phone that they have been told they were being detained in connection with a second case registered in Tripura. “I heard a second FIR was registered against us in Gomati district. The local police station here doesn’t have further details. We don’t have much idea either. We are waiting for Tripura Police to come here and give us the details,” Jha said.
A senior police officer said, “Yes, they were detained. A team of Tripura Police officials from Dharmanagar has gone there (Nilambazaar) to bring them.” The officer also said a few videos posted by the journalists on social media had claimed that a prayer hall was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged. The videos are suspected to have been “doctored”, he added.
The journalists have been accused of “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion” under Section 153-A and “being a part of criminal conspiracy” under Section 120 (B) of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) in the complaint filed by Kanchan Das.
The Tripura police, however, gave a different version. Even as Ms Sakunia alleged in a tweet that they were not allowed to leave the hotel, sources claimed a team of cops “only served a notice” to them, and later asked them to appear for questioning on November 21. “Based on an FIR, we today went to meet the journalists who were staying in a hotel in Dharmanagar sub-division of Tripura’s north district. We took their permission and spoke with them which for basic information. We served them a notice. They requested us to give some time so then they can appear with their lawyer. The permission was given. I believe they have already left,” a police officer said.
Amid huge protests in Maharashtra over the reported clashes in Tripura, the Home Ministry on Saturday trashed the claims about the vandalism of a mosque in Gomati district. Ms Jha, in a series of tweets, on Saturday had said they spoke to locals about the damage to a mosque. She also shared a copy of the FIR and mentioned about a rally by the VHP in another tweet where she elaborated the claims of the locals linked to the right-wing group.
Ms Sakunia this morning had tweeted: “We were supposed to leave for the capital Agartala but have been not allowed to move despite full cooperation. There are around 16-17 police deployed outside our hotel.”
“The police arrived yesterday at the hotel around 10:30 at night and served the FIR copy in the morning 5:30am. We were supposed to leave for the capital Agartala but have been not allowed to move despite full cooperation. There are around 16-17 police deployed outside our hotel,” she tweeted. Both of them may be questioned in a fake news circulation case, sources have said.
On Saturday, the Home Ministry dismissed reports of vandalism at a mosque in the BJP-ruled state. “There have been news reports that have been circulating that a mosque in Kakraban area of Gomati district in Tripura has been damaged and vandalised. These news reports are fake and are a complete misrepresentation of facts,” a strongly-worded statement read.
Last week, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were asked by the Tripura Police to provide details of over a hundred accounts from which allegedly fake and provocative posts were made. Recently, over a dozen criminal cases have been filed and action has been taken against 70 people including Supreme Court lawyers, activists, and religious campaigners. Journalist Shyam Meera Singh and lawyers Ansar Indori (from the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation) and Mukesh (from the Peoples’ Union of Civil Liberties) approached the Supreme Court to nix FIRs against them.
(Manas Dasgupta)
