Zee News anchor Rohit Ranjan, who was arrested by Noida Police in connection with allegedly misleading clips about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, was released on bail on Tuesday, 5 July.
The Gautam Buddh Nagar Police media cell said that following the interrogation, Ranjan was arrested on the basis of evidence but released on bail as the sections against him are bailable offences.
Earlier in the day, a team from Chhattisgarh Police had arrived at Ranjan's residence in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram area to arrest him. Cases were filed in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.
On the basis of a complaint filed by Congress MLA Devendra Yadav at Raipur's Civil Lines police station, Ranjan has been booked under several sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Section 153-A (Promoting Enmity on Grounds of Religion or Race), Section 295-A (Malicious Acts Intending to Hurt Religious Beliefs), Section 504 (Intentional Insult), and Section 505 (1)(b) (Intent to Cause Fear or Alarm to Public).
UP and Chhattisgarh Police Fight For Custody
Ranjan took to Twitter on Tuesday, asking UP Police and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for help when Chhattisgarh Police arrived to arrest him.
"Without informing the local police, the Chhattisgarh Police has arrived at my doorstep to arrest me. Is this legal?" his tweet at 6.16 am read in Hindi.
Raipur police, however, responded saying that there was no "such rule to inform". The police team had shown him the court's arrest warrant.
"You should in fact cooperate, join in investigation and put your defence in court," the reply said.
Later, videos revealing a jostle for custody between police personnel from Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh surfaced on social media.
Distorted Statement of Rahul Gandhi
Congress alleged that Ranjan had distorted the statement of party leader Rahul Gandhi in his special TV news segment, which they said tarnished Gandhi's image.
About 19 Congress workers were also arrested in Noida for protesting outside the TV channel and burning effigies on Sunday, 3 July.
On 2 June, Ranjan allegedly misquoted Gandhi’s video statement on the Udaipur incident and had subsequently corrected himself and apologised on television.
He tweeted, "Yesterday, in our show DNA, Rahul Gandhi's statement was taken in the wrong context by linking it to the Udaipur incident, it was a human error for which our team is apologetic and we apologise for it."
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