A journalist who runs a web portal in Chhattisgarh and a technical assistant were arrested by the state police after two Congress MLAs complained that the duo published "misleading and baseless" information about them.
Congress MLAs Brihaspat Singh and Kuldeep Juneja alleged that the web portal zeroparty.in, run by journalist Madhukar Dubey where Avinash Palliwar works as a technical assistant, had published "misleading" information about them on 24 October.
After two separate FIRs were registered on the MLAs' complaints, Dubey and Palliwar were booked under IPC sections 384 (punishment for extortion), 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 501 (1) (B) (printing or engraving matter known to be defamatory).
Town Inspector Satyaprakash Tiwari of the Civil Lines police station in Raipur told The Indian Express that the report was published by Dubey and circulated with Palliwar’s aid, so both were arrested.
After their arrest, the duo were produced in court and were sent to 14-day judicial custody.
(With inputs from The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)