Uwazi

West Bengal authorities must immediately release journalists Suraj Ali Khan and Safikul Islam, as well as Islam�s wife, Alima Khatun, and drop all the charges against them and investigations into their work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

At about 3 a.m. on June 29, police arrested Khan and Islam at Islam�s home in Arambagh, in the Hoogly district of West Bengal, for alleged extortion, and also arrested Khatun, their lawyers, Pintu Karar and Samim Ahammed, told CPJ over the phone.

Khan works as a reporter and Islam as an editor and owner at Arambagh TV, a news channel on YouTube that has about 130,000 followers, their lawyers said. Police also detained Islam and Khatun�s two children during the arrests, but later released them, Ahammed said. CPJ could not determine on what grounds police were holding Khatun.

The journalists� arrests were prompted by a complaint filed just after midnight on June 29 by a local resident, whose name was not disclosed, who alleged that Islam and Khan had photographed him cutting down a tree on government land, a criminal offense, on March 16, and then extorted money from him in exchange for not publishing the image, Ahammed said.

The journalists� lawyers told CPJ that they believe the arrests were actually retaliation for Islam and Khan�s reporting on alleged corruption in government funds distributed to private clubs amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

�The arrests of Arambagh TV editor Safikul Islam and reporter Suraj Ali Khan, as well as of Islam�s wife, are clear attempts to intimidate the journalists and force them to stop their critical reporting,� said Aliya Iftikhar, CPJ�s senior Asia researcher, in New York. �The three should be released immediately and all investigations into them dropped. West Bengal police must cease harassing journalists for their work.�

Karar and Ahammed told CPJ that they have moved their case to the state High Court after a lower court refused to grant bail, and said the next hearing is set for tomorrow.

If charged and convicted with extortion, the journalists could face up to three years in jail and a fine set by a judge, according to the Indian penal code.

According to documents reviewed by CPJ, the West Bengal police have also opened five other investigations into Islam and Khan in recent months. In two cases opened on April 28 and others opened on May 6, 13, and 14, police have investigated the journalists for alleged cheating, forgery, defamation, public mischief, criminal conspiracy, wrongful restraint, provocation that will break public peace, criminal intimidation, disobeying a public servant, obstructing a public servant in discharge of public functions, causing grievous harm to a deter public servant from his duty, and assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from the discharge of his duty, according to those documents.

Police are also investigating Khan and Islam for allegedly violating sections of the Disaster Management Law, which was invoked in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and for making false statements and printing or publishing news without conforming to rules under the Press and Registration of Books Law, according to those documents.

On June 2, the Calcutta High Court instructed the police not to take any coercive action against Islam or Khan in relation to the investigations, as the journalists assured the court that they would cooperate with authorities and would be physically present at the police station whenever summoned for questioning, according to Karar.

Islam and Khan followed the court�s instructions and appeared before the Arambagh police for questioning on June 10, Karar said.

CPJ emailed Hooghly Rural Superintendent of Police Tathagata Basu, who oversees the police responsible for the journalists� arrests, for comment, but did not receive any reply. In a press conference held on July 4, Basu denied wrongdoing on the part of police and claimed that Islam was being investigated for fraud and that Arambagh TV was run illegally, without government permission.

Ahammed told CPJ that no regulatory permission is required under Indian law to run an internet-based news outlet.

Previously, in early May, Arambagh TV posted two videos in which Islam and Khatun separately claimed that mobs of 30 to 40 people had surrounded their homes and threatened them over their coverage.

In June, the West Bengal police opened an investigation into the editor of Bengali-daily Anandabazaar Patrika following a complaint from a senior bureaucrat over the newspaper�s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, as CPJ documented at the time.

On 29 June 2020, Suraj Ali Khan and Safikul Islam, media workers, and the wife of Mr. Islam, were arrested by the police on false charge for reporting COVID-19-related corruption in Arambagh, India.

On the June 29, journalist Hofe Dada was confronted and assaulted while filming a piece on pollution levels at a factory in Aruachal Pradesh. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, Indian Journalists Union (IJU), denounce the attempts to silence Dada and call on the police to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Dada, a reporter from a local media outlet Gyoloo News, had been investigating the excessively high pollution levels produced by SMS Smelters Ltd in Lekhi village when he was attacked unprovoked by four men. The factory has continually produced substantial amounts of smoke, visible to those from surrounding villages. Despite explaining to the men that he was covering an issue that affected all members of the community, Dada was threatened with further violence and had his phone stolen. He immediately filed a complaint with Nirjuli police.

The incident is a frightening echo of the attempted assassination of Tongam Rina, a senior reporter from the same district, who was shot for her reporting. Although the incident occurred in 2012, with no perpetrators prosecuted justice has still not been delivered. There are fears that the complacency of the legal system has encouraged perpetrators to silence reporters with any means possible.

The police have so far arrested one suspected assailant, Nangram Tapu, a security officer for SMS Smelters and have informed the media that they are also investigating the legality of the factory.

On 29 June 2020, Hofe Dada, was intimidated and had his phone seized by four men while investigating factory pollution in Lekhi village, Arunachal Pradesh, India.

A local correspondent for the Kampu Mail, a Hindi-language daily, Shubham Mani Tripathi died on the spot when he was shot six times, three of them in the head, on 19 June in Unnao, a suburb of Lucknow, the state capital. In a recent Facebook post, he said he feared he could be killed because of his investigations into land expropriations of questionable legality linked to illegal sand mining.

Kampu Mail local bureau chief Ritesh Shukla mentioned the name of Divya Awasthi, a local businesswoman involved in land transactions, as did the reporter�s uncle, Dhirendra Mani Tripathi. The NewsClick website quoted him as saying: �There is some government land that Divya Awasthi wanted to take possession of. [Shubham] exposed the matter and [said] she could not do that (...) Her goons had attacked Shubham at his house last year after he exposed her and now have killed him.�

�We call on the Uttar Pradesh authorities to appoint an independent investigation to shed all possible light on Shubham Tripathi�s horrific murder,� said Daniel Bastard, the head of RSF�s Asia-Pacific desk.

�In this region of northern India, the links between sand mafia bosses and local police chiefs mean that, when journalists are murdered in connection with their reporting, the police investigation is almost always closed without further action. The vicious cycle of impunity needs to be broken by means of legislation guaranteeing journalists� safety.�

Dangerous state

India�s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh is also one of the most dangerous regions for journalists, especially those who try to cover the sand mafia, the name given in India to those who illegally mine sand from riverbeds for sale to the construction industry.

In 2016 alone, two journalists, Karun Misra of the Jansandesh Times and Ranjan Rajdev of the Hindustan Daily, were killed by gunmen on motorcycles in separate attacks after covering such illegal mining. In June 2015, the journalist Jagendra Singh died from the severe burns he sustained when set on fire during a police search of his home. He had been investigating a local government minister�s links to organized crime and illegal mining.

The journalist Haider Khan was badly beaten and dragged behind a motorcycle for 100 metres the same month after writing about dubious land expropriations. In October of that year, men on a motorcycle fatally shot journalist Hemant Kumar Yadav in the chest in reprisal for his reporting. In all of these cases, the police investigations drew a blank and the instigators remain unpunished.

Judicial harassment

When they don�t fall victim to physical violence, Uttar Pradesh journalists who try to do their job are often the targets of judicial harassment orchestrated by the state government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, an unwavering supporter of India�s prime minister, Narendra Modi, and his Hindu nationalist policies.

Such was the experience of Supriya Sharma, the executive editor of the Scroll.in news website, and her chief editor, Naresh Fernandes, on 18 June, when the Uttar Pradesh police registered a complaint against them over a story about the coronavirus lockdown�s impact in remote villages in Varanasi, the district that Modi represents in the federal parliament. The two journalists are facing up to five years in prison on the four charges registered by the police.

Siddharth Varadarajan, the editor of The Wire, another independent website, is meanwhile being investigated as a result of a complaint filed on 1 April over an allegedly �fake news� report that the state�s chief minister attended an enormous religious gathering two days after the imposition of a nationwide lockdown.

India is ranked 142nd out of 180 countries and territories in RSF's 2020 World Press Freedom Index.

On 19 June 2020, Shubham Mani Tripathi, media worker, was gunned down by a suspected business actor likely for reporting on land expropriations linked to sand mafia in Lucknow, India.

Police lodged a First Information Report (FIR) against Supriya Sharma, the executive editor of news portal Scroll.in for her report on the lockdown in India�s prime minister Narendra Modi�s constituency. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate the National Union of Journalists (India) (NUJI) urges the Indian government to withdraw the charges.

Mala Devi lodged an FIR at Varanasi�s Ramnagar police station in Uttar Pradesh on June 13, alleging Supriya Sharma misrepresented her interview in Domari village, Varanasi. Accordingly, police charged Sharma under section 501 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code for allegedly printing a defamatory story and a negligent act that is likely to cause the spread of a life-threatening disease.

Sharma�s article documented the impacts of the lockdown and inadequate emergency food support in Domari village, Varanasi. Modi adopted Domari village as part of his constituency in 2018.

NUJI president, Ras Bihari said: �This is a threat to democracy and attacks the origins of freedom of expression.� Ras Bihari expresses grave concern over the harassment of journalists through FIR's in Uttar Pradesh and appeals to journalists to fact-check before publishing a story.

On 13 June 2020, Supriya Sharma, executive director of media outlet, was booked by the police for reporting Government's shortcomings on COVID-19 outbreak in Varanasi, India.

About 150 people, including CPI (M) party leaders, local villagers and environment activists, were arrested when they tried to form a human chain near LG Polymers India plant at R.R. Venkatapuram, here on June 5.

The protest was held as part of World Environment Day as also to demand the arrest of the LG management.

�It was a silent protest and we just wanted to highlight the damage caused to the environment and loss of human life by the LG Polymers India plant, but the police arrested us and disrupted the protest, which was part of a global protest,� said CPI (M) State secretariat member Ch. Narasinga Rao.

It may be recollected that on May 7, styrene monomer vapour leaked from the LG plant in R.R. Venkatapuram village in Visakhapatnam at around 3 a.m. killing 12 people and hospitalising over 500.

The incident gathered global attention and protests were organised worldwide, including on June 5 � on the occasion of World Environment Day.

�It was part of a global protest and a silent human chain was formed in Seoul in South Korea, Singapore, Germany, Malaysia and other countries, and they were not arrested. Why should we be arrested for the negligence of an MNC,� questioned Mr. Rao.

While some of the leaders were arrested as early as 5 a.m. when they tried to reach the chemical plant, others were arrested near the protest site at R.R. Venkatapuram.

About 150 persons were arrested and sent to different police stations.

The left and environment activists said that their prime demand was arresting the management of the LG Plant and closure or shifting of the plant.

All reports including that of the NGT clearly specifies negligence on part of the company, but still the police has not arrested any person or booked a strong case against the management, said Lokanathan, District Secretary, CPI (M).

On 5 June 2020, around 150 environmental defenders were arrested for staging a peaceful demonstration on World Environment Day demanding the arrest of company management that caused a deadly incident a momth earlier in Venkatapuram, India.

Raju Baitha is a Dalit HRD residing in Motihari, East Champaran district of Bihar. He has been active in defending the human rights of Dalits in Bihar for long and is the district coordinator of the NCDHR, a national organisation to protect and promote the human rights of Dalits. Mr. Baitha, in one of his Facebook posts on May 20, 2020, questioned East Champaran�s Superintendent of Police(SP), Mr. Naveen Chandra Jha, about caste determining the punishment for policemen for similar charges against them. His Facebook post said, �just see the mockery of justice. Two cops from the higher caste were only sent to the police lines while another cop from the Dalit community was placed under suspension for the same charge.� Mr Baitha asked the SP for an answer and said that his action was biased and flouted the Constitutional norms. According to the sources, the SP called Mr. Baitha multiple times on WhatsApp and threatened him regarding his Facebook post. The SP also asked whether Mr. Baithawas the DGP to question the charges and that �he will put him in jail within 4 days�. Mr. Baitha recorded the WhatsApp conversation and it was picked up by the local media. On May 26, 2020, at about 6.00 am, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Chhitouni police station Mr. Mukesh Chand Kumar went to Mr. Baitha�s residence with four constables and arrested him without any arrest warrant. He was taken to the Chhitouni police stationand his two mobile phones and Rs 25000 were seized by the police without a seizurememo. An FIR (No. 49/2020) was registered against him by the Motihari police dated January 29, 2020, under IPC sections 143/188/353/149/342/506/427/341 and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, for alleged damage to public property and blocking public roads. The said protest was held on January 29, 2020,under the banner of Bahujan Kranti Morcha against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). After his arrest on May 26, Mr. Baitha was not taken to a police station, but driven around in a police car, till the police got an official warrant signed by the magistrate. He was then taken into judicial custody. On May 28, 2020,Mr. Baithawas grantedbailinCase No.49/2020. However,before he could be released, he was re-arrested in two more FIRs Case no.50/2020 of Chhitouni police station dated January 29, 2020, by a shopkeeper who alleged damage to his shop during the proteston January 29. Another FIR was registered at Mufassil police station�s Case no.153/2020 dated April 5, 2020, filedby a person from the SC community. Mr. Baitha was released on bail only on June 15, 2020. It is obvious that Mr. Baitha has been victimised and harassed by the police, and subjected to harassment which included restrictions on his movement and liberty,for questioning certain actions of the SP through his Facebook post. HRDA believes the police on the directions of the East Champaran SP has misused provisions of law to target a Dalit HRD. This is not only a clear violation of his rights as a citizen of Indian under Article 19(A)but also an act of atrocity under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act (PoAA).

On 26 May 2020, Raju Baitha, Dalit human rights defender, was arrested by the police, his valuable seized for reporting different caste-based punishment of policemen in Motihari, India.

The Special Cell of Delhi Police has booked Jamia Millia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly being part of a larger conspiracy behind the February riots in northeast Delhi, officials said on Thursday. This comes days after the Delhi Police's crime branch arrested the 24-year-old in connection with the violence in the Jamia area during a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in December last year, they said. The police said Tanha, a resident of Abul Fazal Enclave in Shaheen Bagh, is a member of the Students Islamic Organization and was part of the Jamia Coordination Committee which spearheaded protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. He was arrested on production warrant by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police on Tuesday and booked under the UAPA for being part of a larger conspiracy of the riots in Delhi, said a senior police official, who did not wish to be identified. "We had evidence and wanted him in a case that we were investigating. So we arrested him on production warrant on Tuesday and have been granted seven days of custody," he said. A court in Delhi on Wednesday had sent Tanha to seven days of police custody in the case related to communal violence in February in northeast Delhi during the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, after the police said his remand was required to unearth the entire conspiracy and to confront him with the electronic data collected during investigation. Jamia Coordination Committee members Safoora Zargar, Meeran Haider, President of Jamia Alumni Association Shifa-Ur-Rehman, suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain have also been booked under the anti-terror law in the case. "The Crime Branch of the Delhi Police had arrested Tanha recently in a case registered at Jamia police station on December 16, 2019 in connection with riots in the Jamia area in which he was named as an accused," a senior police officer had earlier said. Tanha is a third-year student of BA in Persian language. He is a key member of the Jamia Coordination Committee and played an active role in organising protests and riots in Jamia in December 2019, police had said. He is a close associate of Umar Khalid, Sharjeel Imam, Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar who had been key organisers of anti-CAA protests and subsequent riots, the police said. On December 15 last year, protesters had torched four public buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in New Friends' Colony near Jamia Millia Islamia during a demonstration against the amended Citizenship Act, leaving at least 40 people including students, policemen and fire fighters injured, officials had then said. Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control, leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

On 25 May 2020, Asif Iqbal Tanha, student leader, was placed under investigation, sent to judicial remand by the police upon court disposition over alleged participation to February riot in Delhi, India.

JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, associated with Pinjra Tod, were sent to judicial custody by Metropolitan Magistrate Kapil Kumar after the police said their further custody was not required for the investigation.

A Delhi court on Thursday sent two women associated with Pinjra Tod' group, a collective of women students and alumni of colleges from across Delhi, to judicial custody for 14 days in a case related to communal violence in north east Delhi.

Pinjra Tod (Break the Cage) was founded in 2015 with an aim to make hostels and paying guest accommodations less restrictive for women students.

In 2015, Jamia Millia Islamia University had issued a notice restricting female students to stay out after 8 pm.

When the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) questioned the Jamia administration on it, a group of women students decided to protest against the restrictions not only in Jamia but other universities in Delhi. Later named as Pinjra Tod, the group mobilised people around several issues faced by female residents of hostels and PGs.

JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, associated with Pinjra Tod, were sent to judicial custody by Metropolitan Magistrate Kapil Kumar after the police said their further custody was not required for the investigation.

They are currently lodged in Mandoli jail here. Police had earlier told the court that their custodial interrogation was required to unearth the conspiracy behind the case and identify other accused in the case.

Advocate Adit S Pujari, appearing for the women, had told the court that the women were arrested in the case with a "malafide" intent.

They were arrested last Saturday in connection with a protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act in Jaffrabad area in February. On Sunday, they were granted bail by the court in the case.

Moments after the judge passed the order, the Crime Branch of the Delhi police had moved an application seeking to interrogate them and formally arrested them in a separate case related to the violence.

They had sought 14 days custody of the accused. The court had sent them to police custody for two days saying the investigation was at its initial stage.

The case, in which they were arrested on Saturday, was registered under sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 188 (disobedience of order by public servant), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way), 109 (abetment), 341 (wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code.

The case in which they were arrested on Sunday was registered under section 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 283 (danger or obstruction in public way), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 332 (causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 307 (attempt to murder), 302 (murder), 427, 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 188 (disobedience of public servant's order) of IPC, relevant sections of the Arms Act and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

On 23 May 2020, Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, students, were arrested on false charges over their ivolvement in countrywide anti-CAA protest in February and sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court in Delhi, India.

The Kashmir Press Club on Thursday expressed concern over the police summoning journalists in the Valley and urged the �highest authorities in the administration� to look into these issues so that media persons are provided a conducive atmosphere to work.

The cyber cell of the Kashmir Police on Wednesday summoned The Kashmir Walla�s Founding Editor Fahad Shah in connection with his reportage on the Srinagar gunfight. On Tuesday, two Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including the son of a separatist leader, were killed in a gunfight between security forces and militants in the Nawakadal area of Srinagar. The gunfight left destruction in its wake, with several houses being razed to the ground, burnt or partially damaged.

Shah and his colleague had reported on the destruction of the homes. In their report, many people had accused the security forces of stealing their jewellery, money and other items.

In his statement, Shah said that he reached the police station at 1.30 pm on Wednesday and was not informed about the reason for being summoned for the next two hours. �At 3.34 pm a senior official led me to another room in the police station where five other police officials, including senior officials, were present,� he added.

Shah said that the officials objected to the coverage of the aftermath of the Nawakadal gunfight and accused him of �maligning the police�s reputation�.

In his response, the editor said that the reports published were interviews of local residents, on camera, whose houses had been burned. �If the police differed with the allegations of the local residents, we would have given equal space to the same in our report as a professional journalist. However, no such clarification was given,� Shah�s statement read.

The organisation noted that in earlier incidents also journalists have been similarly summoned by the police for their stories. �The KPC has condemned all such incidents and has noted that such summons and FIRs are aimed at harassing and intimidating the journalists and thus are a clear violation of the press freedom,� the press club said.

On April 21, the cyber police issued a statement that it had filed a case against freelance journalist Gowhar Geelani for �unlawful activities� on social media, threatening national security and sovereignty, �glorifying terrorism�, �causing disaffection against the country�. It also claimed to have received complaints accusing Geelani of threat and intimidation.

On April 18, freelance photojournalist Masrat Zahra was charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a law normally used against those allegedly involved in acts of terror. The police said that Zahra, a freelance photojournalist who reports mostly about women and children in conflict, uploaded photographs that could �provoke the public to disturb law and order�.

Over the same weekend, the police filed a first information report against an alleged fake news item about a gunfight between police and militants in South Kashmir and subsequent developments published in The Hindu. Details of the report were �factually incorrect�, could �cause fear or alarm� and had not been confirmed with district authorities, they said. The reporter Peerzada Ashiq told the Committee to Protect Journalist that he had records to show he had reached out to the authorities for comment.

On April 17, Mushtaq Ganaie, a journalist for the Kashmir Observer in Central Kashmir�s Ganderbal district, was detained for two days and booked for �creating hurdles in a police officer�s duty�. His offence: travelling around and trying to report during the coronavirus lockdown.

India has steadily fallen on the World Press Freedom Index, dropping to 142nd place in the latest 2020 survey. Kashmir�s long �electronic curfew� is cited as one of the reasons for this deterioration.

On 20 May 2020, Fahad Shah, media worker, was summoned by the police for reporting destruction of civilan houses resulting from gunfight involving security forces in Srinagar, India.

Ms. P Ranganayakamma is a 66-year-old woman human rights defender, writer and critic has written extensively on issues relating to women and social justice. She has written 15 novels, 70 short stories, and many essays, publishing about 60 volumes in all. The main theme of her work isthe issue of gender equality for women. Most of her works have been published either in magazines or daily newspapers and subsequently published in the form of books.On May 7, 2020, styrene, a poisonous gas, leaked from a storage tank at LG Polymers plant at Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It led to the death of 12 people and affected the health of at least 450 people in Vishakhapatnam and 4 other villages around it. Several of them will face long term health complications. However, no arrests were made by the policefor the killings and causing life threatening health hazards. The South Korean company running the plant has not been held responsible for negligencein any manner whatsoever. In such a scenario, WHRD Ms. Ranganayakamma, wrote 20 questions on her Facebook page questioning the government for their inaction. Immediately after posting the questions, an FIR was filed against Ms. Ranganayakamma by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Andhra Pradesh police under Section 505(2) (making statements that create or promote enmity), 153(A) (indulging in wanton vilification), 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and 120-Br/w 34 (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code, and also under Section 67 (Punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of IT Act, 2008. On May 18, 2020, Ms. Ranganayakamma was arrested by the CID. The CID told the media that �action would be taken against those who post false comments against the State Government and misguide the public�. The above incident is a clear case of misuse of power by the police officials. The arrest of Ms. Ranganayakamma is an attempt to stop the senior citizen and WHRD from questioning the government and threaten all others from exercising their free expression. This is a clear violation of Article 19 of the Constitution which provides for free speech and power to express oneself to every citizen. The incident which took place has affected the lives of lot of people in the nearby areas and thus as a concerned citizen in a democracy she has the right to ask relevant questions to the government about the steps taken by them for the well-being of the people. By arresting her the state government not only tried to silence the her and other people questioning them but also tried to hide its failure to do any concrete investigation with respect to the gas leak.

On 18 May 2020, P Ranganayakamma, WHRD, was arrested by the police for commenting online Government's inaction in fatal environmental incident in Guntur, India.

In the latest instance of harassment of the media for critical reporting, the Uttar Pradesh administration has lodged an FIR against Ravindra Saxena, a journalist at Today-24 news portal for reporting on the mismanagement and negligence at a quarantine centre in Sitapur district.

In a video report, Saxena spoke to people at a quarantine centre in Maholi tehsil of Sitapur district of eastern Uttar Pradesh, who alleged that they were served rotten rice.

�We had gone to meet the SDM Shashi Bhushan Rai for some news where we saw a person had come along with the rotten rice to make a complain[t] to the SDM. We spoke to him on camera and he told us how they were being served rotten rice at the quarantine center, but the authorities were not taking action. After this, we visited the quarantine center and made a detailed video of the mismanagement there,� Saxena told Newslaundry.

�The administration has filed a case against me through a Scheduled Caste trainee accountant Rishabh Gautam, in violation of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the Disaster Management Act. The FIR has been registered on the orders of the CM,� he claimed.

Mahendra Aggarwal, president of the district unit of the UP Journalist Association, has submitted a memorandum to the district magistrate of Sitapur. No positive response has been received so far. �The FIR is done, it cannot be canceled, but we have stopped the arrest. The police will investigate further and report. They (journalists) have done such a thing, due to which the authorities have become angry,� he said.

Several attempts were made to speak to SDM Shashi Bhushan Rai, but he could not be reached out.

Since the imposition of lockdown, FIRs have been registered against journalists in Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar, among others, often for highlighting shortcomings in government.

In early April, the UP police had also filed an FIR against The Wire and its founding editor Siddharth Varadarajan for a news article on chief minister Yogi Adityanath. The Editors Guild of India has also recently expressed its concern over �a growing pattern of misuse of criminal laws to intimidate journalists in different parts of the country.�The Guild�s statement has specifically pointed out a sedition case filed by the Gujarat police against Dhaval Patel, editor and owner of a Gujarati news portal, and a notice sent to the Indian Express�s reported Mahendra Singh Manral by the Delhi police for his report that a police investigation had found that an audio clip of the leader of the Tablighi Jamaat could be possibly doctored. He has been asked to join the probe into this matter otherwise he would be charged under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code.

The Guild said that the police action in Gujarat and Delhi is deeply disturbing, �The government and police must recognise that the media is an integral part of the governance structure in any democracy. The guild condemns these actions and demands state and central governments to desist from misusing the law to threaten the free press.�

In the latest ranking of the World Press Freedom Index, India has slipped two places and is now ranked 142 among 180 countries of the world. The Centre has constituted an �Index Monitoring Cell� to understand India�s poor ranking in press freedom indices. The cell was set up soon after information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar had said on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, that the Narendra Modi government would �expose, sooner than later, those surveys that tend to portray bad picture about �Freedom of Press� in India.�

On 18 May 2020, Ravindra Saxena, media worker, was sued by the Uttar Pradesh administration for reporting on the mismanagement and negligence at a quarantine centre in Sitapur District, India.

Two activists of the Swaraj Abhiyan organisation, who have been distributing food to stranded workers in labour colonies in Bengaluru during the lockdown, were booked on May 7 after a complaint by a builder. R Kaleemullah and Zia Nomani have been charged under Sections 153 (provocation with intent to cause riots) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

�We had been going to the labour colonies to distribute food packets and ration supplies for many days. We knew they were getting restless. They were not being paid their wages, they were not getting proper food. When the government decided to start trains, we helped many of them register on the Seva Sindhu portal because they had no information otherwise,� said Nomani.

Kaleemullah said they had been pacifying the workers, and asking them not to hit the streets. �When the government decided to stop trains and we heard they were beginning to walk, we rushed to the labour colony in Veeranpalya to calm them down. We also said no one can force them to work. So, this FIR is simply harassment,� he said.

On the afternoon of May 7, when officials of the Sampigehalli Police Station arrived at the labour camp of the BL Kashyap construction firm to arrest Nomani and Kaleemullah, the workers protested and refused to allow the police to take them away.

�We had been distributing relief for many days there. So, the workers and nearby daily wagers, gathered there and protested. When they saw the resistance, the police backed off and asked us to come to the police station instead,� said Nomani.

The activist alleged they were being harassed under pressure from a builder lobby and, though they had been charged under bailable sections, they were not being granted station bail.

DCP Northeast Bheemashankar Guled said the complaint had been filed by the BL Kashyap firm. He also pointed to a tweet by the Migrants Workers Solidarity on May 7, which posted a video of migrant workers behind a gate, asking to be sent home. �Bangalore Manyata Park construction workers caged in after @BSYBJP cancels trains under #BuilderLobby pressure,� the tweet said.

�It was fake news. It was not a cage, but simply the gate. When we reached out to the builder and asked why the workers had been caged, they said it was a misrepresentation. So, we then asked them to file a complaint,� said Guled.

�Also, when Section 144 was in force, when there is a curfew in the city, there are videos of Somany and Kaleemullah addressing a big gathering of workers and canvassing. That is also a violation of the law,� he added.

Nomani said that neither he nor any member of his organisation had anything to do with the Twitter handle, or had retweeted or liked that post.

On 7 May 2020, R Kaleemullah and Zia Nomani, community-based defenders, were arrested by the police on spurious charges for distributing food, and denied to set bail in Bangalore, India.

Family members of arrested Jamia Millia Islamia student Safoora Zargar say they are �appalled and upset� by the attempts made to slander her on social media, but her husband says he is keeping faith in the country�s judicial system.

Zargar, a 27-year-old M.Phil. student from Jamia, is over three months pregnant, and was arrested by the Delhi Police�s special cell on 10 April. She was later denied bail and, on 21 April, charged under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA). She was associated with the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), and was part of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests organised by university students in December and January. She was arrested for allegedly leading the anti-CAA protest at Jaffrabad metro station in February.

On Monday, three weeks after her arrest, her family found a hashtag in her name, #?????_????, trending on Twitter, hours after Delhi BJP leader Kapil Mishra commented on her pregnancy.

Mishra had quote-tweeted Congress member Salman Nizami�s tweet, which said: �Activist Safoora Zargar (pregnant) is in Jail during Ramadan, hatemongers like Kapil Mishra who incited riots are FREE.�

Mishra is accused of inciting hate through his speeches before violence erupted in Northeast Delhi in February.

Following this, many tweets questioning the nature of Zargar�s pregnancy and her marital status began doing the rounds.

�We are extremely appalled and distraught about this. I am shocked at the lengths people are willing to go to in order to malign her image,� her sister Sameeya Zargar told ThePrint. �This is nothing but character assassination.�

�I don�t even want to dignify these trolls by responding to them, they will do what they have to,� Zargar�s husband said to ThePrint. He requested that his name not be published. Outrage over continued arrest without bail

Zargar�s continued arrest without bail has received widespread outrage and condemnation, including from Amnesty International. Her arrest, along with that of another Jamia student Meeran Haider, had earlier kicked up a storm of online petitions demanding their release.

At Zargar�s bail hearing on 18 April, the court said the investigating officer had filed a �cryptic and superficial� reply on her role in the case, and told the officer to file a detailed reply for the next hearing. However, her bail was later denied after more stringent charges were added to the FIR.

Amnesty said in a statement: �She is currently imprisoned in Tihar jail, which is one of the most overcrowded prisons in the country, and has not been able to access her lawyer or meet her husband since 14 April. Safoora�s pregnancy is a mitigating factor against her continued detention under UAPA, particularly amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.�

Early Monday morning, her sister Sameeya released an open letter to her, describing the period of Safoora�s arrest as a �slow death�.

�She has had pregnancy related UTI issues. She also has a history of UTI. We were hoping on all these grounds she will be given bail, but hasn�t yet,� Sameeya said.

Safoora�s husband added: �We were hoping she would get bail soon, but because of the lockdown, the entire machinery is moving slowly. But we have hope in our judicial system.� �Not an arbitrary arrest�

The Delhi Police maintains that Safoora Zargar�s arrest is not �arbitrary�.

�It is not an arbitrary arrest, we have evidence to prove the charges. Rest the judiciary will take a call,� a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity.

Officials of Tihar jail have said �she is being given proper medical assistance�, and have denied that she has been kept in solitary confinement.

�The new inmates are being kept isolated. As such, she is in a single cell. It is not solitary confinement. She has been allowed to talk to her family also on the phone,� said an officer posted in Tihar.

Her husband, however, said: �I was allowed to speak to her just once for only 5 minutes, over a week ago. There has been no communication permitted since then.�

On 4 May 2020, Safoora Zargar, detained student leader and WHRD, was victim of online vilification during her pregnancy by multiple social media account in Delhi, India

In what appears to be the latest instance of an attack on free speech in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands police have arrested a freelance journalist for a tweet he posted on Monday drawing attention to what he said were bizarre quarantine rules being followed by the local authorities.

Zubair Ahmed has been charged with multiple offences, one of which is non-bailable, with the police accusing him of spreading false information with an intention to obstruct the administration�s efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the islands. He was granted bail and released on Tuesday.

On April 26, the Andaman Chronicle, an established local newspaper, carried a news item with the headline, �#AndamanFightsCOVID19: Entire Family Put on Home Quarantine After One Calls Up a Relative in Bambooflat�:

�The incident took place yesterday when Shri K.A. Rehman called up his relative who had tested corona positive, over phone. The intention was to enquire about the wellbeing of the victim, a resident of Bambooflat. It was hours after the call was made, the entire family was put on home quarantine by the authorities. The four members include Shri K.A. Rehman (70 years), Smti Rehana Rehman (60 years), Shri K. Abdul Rasheed (32 years) and Smti Saira Banu (29 years). The family is now confused whether calling up their relative was a crime committed or is it that the concerned authorities in Andaman are over concerned about their safety.�

Following up on this, Ahmed, a reporter based in the islands, posted a question on April 27 for the Andamans administration, whom he tagged, in which he asked why families who merely spoke to COVID-19 patients on the phone were being forced to quarantine:

The director general of police, Deependra Pathak told The Wire that the claim Zubair made in his tweet � about the home quarantining of those who had merely spoken to COVID-19 patients on the phone � was not true. However, he did not explain why action was taken against him for merely raising a question that had already been flagged in a story published by the Andaman Chronicle.

Instead, Ahmed was called in for questioning because of the tweet, detained and then shifted to the Aberdeen police station.

Ahmed is an established journalist who founded and ran a weekly newsmagazine, The Light of Andamans, for several years. Besides contributing to newspapers and websites elsewhere in India, he runs a weekly news and views site, being-islander. Some of the coverage there has been critical of the political and administrative establishment in the Union Territory.

Ahmed was eventually booked under various offences, but was granted bail by a local magistrate the same day.

Confirming Ahmed�s arrest, the Andaman and Nicobar Police said in a statement, �Legal action has been taken against one Zubair Ahmed, a self-proclaimed journalist for posting the inciting, false and instigating tweet to disrupt public harmony, violating government order and to create panic among public�The accused is a resident of Bambooflat area, most of which is declared a containment area after several cases emerged from there. Extensive contact tracing exercise is underway in the area currently. However, such messages instigate distrust among the public for the well-established and universal health and contact-tracing protocols, thus motivating people to conceal correct information, falsify their statements, do not cooperate and/or protest against medical protocols and even break the lockdown and gather in large numbers publicly.�

Ahmed has been charged under Indian Penal Code sections 188, 269, 270 and 505(1) that relate to disobedience of a public official and a malignant act aimed at spreading infections. He has also been charged under sections 51 and 54 of the Disaster Management, which entails punishment for obstructing government efforts to contain a disaster.

It is not clear how his tweet attracts any of these sections, especially since he had posed it as a question to the authorities and specifically tagged them, seeking answers.

Islands� police defend arrest

Speaking to The Wire, the UT�s director general of police (DGP) Deependra Pathak claimed that legal action was taken against Ahmed as he was found spreading fake news about the administration�s efforts to contain COVID-19 in the Islands. This, he said, could have fomented communal tensions in the Islands.

He said that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands were the first to identify and report the Tablighi Jamaat cluster to the Centre. �We have currently 33 cases in the state, out of which 22 belong to the TJ cluster,� Pathak said, adding that it was natural of the administration to undertake contact-tracing related to this particular cluster.

�Our efforts are being disrupted by some individuals who are spreading rumours about targeting of a particular community. This can sow the seeds of discord among communities. That is why we were forced to take legal action against them,� Pathak said, adding that certain government officials have also been arrested for such offences.

He further said that any message in social media or conventional media which �spreads false information or instigates or incites people or spreads dissatisfaction among communities or spreads mistrust about the protocols followed by the administration� will lead to a chaotic situation, and people may stop cooperating with the administration.

�It certainly attracts condemnation and legal action against such mischief mongers,� he said, adding that the idea is to �nip the danger in the bud.�

Regarding the arrest of Ahmed, Pathak said, �The legal action taken so far has only been to prevent gullible people getting into disruptions creating law and order problems or a possible communal situation� It becomes more important in view of the fact that the spread of COVID-19 may escalate to community transmission in South Andaman District if not strictly contained.�

He said Ahmed was found to be spreading �fake news� that the administration was tracing and quarantining even those who are talking to COVID-19 patients on phone. �This is not true,� he said, adding that the health and police department are going about contact-tracing very scientifically. He added that apart from the tweet, Ahmed was also allegedly found to be dissuading people against the government�s efforts to trace COVID-19 suspects, and had spun the administration�s work as targeting a particular community.

�The arrest of Ahmed, he said, should not be seen as a case of �violation of the right to speech and expression�. �Law is community, profession and gender-neutral. It has to take its own course,� he said.

He added that apart from Ahmed, a police officer�s son, a government servant�s wife, a revenue department official have also been arrested. �There is no deliberate or targeted action against any group or community to curtail their civil liberties,� he said.

On 27 April 2020, Zubair Ahmed, freelance media worker, was questioned and temporatily detained by the police over a tweet critical of the Government handling of COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India.

The R.S. Puram police in Coimbatore on Thursday arrested Andrew Sam Raja Pandian, founder of a portal called SimpliCity, in connection with certain news it published on alleged shortcomings faced by government healthcare professionals and alleged corruption by some employees of a public distribution system (PDS) outlet. The action followed a complaint from an official of the Coimbatore Corporation who alleged that the reports were 'false' and 'provocative' against the State Government. He was arrested for offences under Sections 188, 505 (i) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act.

Mr. Pandian was arrested late on Thursday, hours after the police questioned him, a journalist and a photographer of the portal. He was produced before the magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

As per the First Information Report, the police registered a case against the publisher of SimpliCity on Wednesday based on a complaint filed by M. Sundararajan, Assistant Commissioner (Personal).

The complainant said that he found the reports by the news platform on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp which carried false information regarding the functioning of Government healthcare professionals and PDS employees while the Government machinery was struggling to combat COVID-19 spread.

While one report said that Government healthcare professionals were struggling for food, another one said that PDS employees were stealing COVID relief fund meant for the poor, said the FIR.

The complainant alleged that such reports were provocative enough to turn healthcare professionals and PDS employees against the Government. He also alleged that they could also lead healthcare professionals to stop working, thus affecting COVID-19 management in the State. Also, distributions of aids and essentials to the public would be affected if PDS employees stopped working, he alleged in the complaint.

Journalists� forum in Coimbatore and Tiruppur condemned the police action.

On 23 April 2020, Andrew Sam Raja Pandian, media worker, was arrested by the police after reporting Government's shortcomings on COVID-19 handling in Coimbatore, India.

The Delhi Police on Tuesday booked Jamia Millia Islamia students Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, or UAPA, in a case related to communal violence in North East Delhi over the Citizenship Amendment Act in February, PTI reported. They also booked former Jawaharlal Nehru University student Umar Khalid under the Act.

Clashes had broken out between supporters of the Citizenship Amendment Act and those opposing it in North East Delhi in February, killing 53 people and injuring hundreds. The violence was the worst Delhi saw since the anti-Sikh violence of 1984.

Haider and Zargar, arrested for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to incite the communal riots in February, are in judicial custody. Zargar is the media coordinator of the Jamia Coordination Committee, while Haider is a member of the panel. Haider, a PhD, is also the president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal�s youth wing in Delhi.

On April 2, the Delhi Police had arrested Meeran Haider. Days later, Safoora Zargar, an MPhil student at the university was arrested for allegedly obstructing the road near the Jaffrabad metro station. Civil society groups had issued a statement on April 16 calling for the release of the two students.

The police claimed in the first information report that the communal violence was a �premeditated conspiracy� which was allegedly hatched by Khalid and the two others. The students were also booked for sedition, murder, attempt to murder, promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and rioting.

The FIR claimed that Khalid had allegedly given provocative speeches at two different places and appealed to Delhi�s residents to hit the streets in protest during United States President Donald Trump�s visit to India in February, in order to spread �propaganda� at the global level about how minorities in India are being mistreated. The FIR also claimed that the police collected firearms, petrol bombs, acid bottles and stones from several houses, establishing a conspiracy.

Women and children were made to block the roads under the Jaffrabad metro station on February 23 to create tension in the vicinity, the FIR alleged.

After facing a backlash from some in civil society and film personalities, the Delhi Police had said on Monday that they had done their job impartially while investigating the North East Delhi violence. �All the arrests made have been based on analysis of scientific and forensic evidence, including video footage, technical and other footprints,� the police said.

On 21 April 2020, Meeran Haider and Safoora Zargar, and Umar Khalid, student leaders, the first two already detained, were booked by the police over fabricated charges for their participation to anti-CAA protests in February in Delhi, India.

The Jammu and Kashmir police Monday filed an FIR in connection with a news story published by The Hindu Sunday despite a social media campaign against its decision to charge Kashmir-based independent photojournalist Masrat Zahra under the stringent Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

The police have also questioned a senior journalist from The Hindu�s J&K Bureau, Peerzada Ashiq, a move that drew further criticism from the journalist community in the Valley.

According to a report by The Hindu, Ashiq was called in for questioning by the Cyber Police in Srinagar Sunday and then again on the same evening by the Anantnag police before being permitted to return home.

�Describing a report headlined �Kin allowed to exhume bodies of militants in Baramulla� published by The Hindu on April 19 as �fake news,� the Jammu and Kashmir police have registered an FIR in the matter,� reads The Hindu report on 20 April.

The report was on two militants killed in an encounter in South Kashmir�s Shopian region. Two families had come forward to claim the bodies of the slain militants whom the authorities had said were unidentified.

The administration had buried the slain militants in a graveyard in Sheeri, Baramulla, reserved for foreign, unidentified or unclaimed militants.

On 19 April 2020, Peerzada Ashiq, media worker, was charged by the police on false terrorims charges as result of his reporting in Srinagar, India.

Tongam Rina, the associate editor of The Arunachal Times has been the target of online trolling, and threats of physical violence in several online posts. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and its affiliate, the Indian Journalists Union (IJU) condemn the online harassment and call on the authorities to investigate the case.

Rina was subjected to a plethora of online abuse, hate speech and threatened with physical violence for her article published on April 18, entitled�Wildlife hunting on spike, say forest officials� published in The Arunachal Times. The article reported on the rise of wildlife hunting during the lockdown, noting the State Forest Department has identified three men during an investigation into the violation of the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972. The article detailed three video clips that circulated on WhatsApp, in two of which, a manclaimshe had hunted a cobra for meat.

The videos went viral and were sensationalized by two National TV channels, fueling the abuse towards Rina. One person said her attack in 2012, in which unidentified gunmen opened fire in an attempt to assassinate Rina was justifiable. After eight years, Rina is still yet to give her statement to the court and police have mishandled the case creating lengthy delays.

Following the online trolling and threat, Rina filed a First Information Report (FIR) under the Indian Penal Code, Information Technology Act andIndecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act 1986.

IJU said: �IJU demands the hate mongers be arrested and put behind bars, to set an example that gender-based trolling would not be tolerated, and that attempts to silence a journalist is discouraged�.

IFJ said: �The ongoing injustice towards Tongam Rina evidences the culture of impunity and gender-based violence that must be challenged. The IFJ call on authorities to launch an investigation and hold the abusers accountable.�

On 19 April 2020, Tongam Rina, media worker, received online threats after publishing an article on wildlife hunting during the lockdown in Itanagar, India.

A photojournalist from Jammu and Kashmir was on Saturday charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for allegedly uploading posts that glorify �anti-national activities� on social media, the police said.

The amended UAPA allows the government to proscribe individuals as terrorists and empowers more officers of the National Investigation Agency to probe cases. A person charged under the act can be jailed for up to seven years.

The police said that Masrat Zahra, a freelance photojournalist who reports mostly about women and children in conflict, uploaded photographs that could �provoke the public to disturb law and order�.

�The user [Zahra] is also uploading posts that tantamount to glorify the anti-national activities and dent the image of law enforcing agencies besides causing disaffection against the country,� the police said in a press release.

The police added that Zahra�s social media posts are inciting young people and promoting unrest. �The user is uploading anti-national posts with criminal intention to induce the youth and to promote offences against public tranquility,� they said.

A first information report has also been filed against Zahra under Section 505 of the Indian Penal Code, which punishes those who induce others to commit an offence against the state or against public tranquillity.

The police also warned people of strict action if they are found circulating inflammatory content on social media. �General public is advised to refrain from misuse of social media platforms and circulation of unauthenticated information,� they said. �Any person found indulging in such activities will be dealt with strictly under law.�

Zahra told Scroll.in that she was asked to immediately report to the Cyber Police Station in Srinagar on Saturday evening. �Since there was a lockdown and I didn�t have a curfew pass, I told them [the police] that I cannot come immediately,� Zahra said. �They pressurised me to come but I didn�t go. They didn�t mention a first information report.�

Zahra added that after the call from the police, she approached senior journalists for help. �I immediately brought the call to the notice of senior journalists and office bearers of Kashmir Press Club,� she said. �Later that evening, I got a call from one of the KPC [Kashmir Press Club] members and they told me that the matter has been solved and I didn�t need to go. They told me that they have spoken to police higher-ups about the matter.�

The journalist said that she did not receive any more calls from the police after that but saw social media posts about the charges against her. �Early today [Monday] morning, I saw some tweets doing rounds that a woman journalist has been booked under UAPA,� she said. �The police didn�t call me directly to inform me about the FIR. I came to know about it from my colleagues.� Women journalists� organisation condemns charges against Zahra

The Network of Women in Media, India said that it was shocked at the charges against Zahra. �NWMI believes that the charges are preposterous in the extreme and amount to rank intimidation of a journalist who has won acclaim for her work, which documents the travails of people of Kashmir,� the organisation said in a statement. �Photographs do not lie and her work, as a photojournalist, are clearly uncomfortable for the powers that be.�

The organisation demanded that the FIR filed against Zahra be dropped. �NWMI [Network of Women in Media] demands that police and security forces stop all such intimidatory and harassing tactics against journalists,� the organisation said.

On 18 April 2020, Masrat Zahra, media worker, was charged by the police under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act in relation to her scial media posts in Srinagar, india.

NIA�s special public prosecutor Prakash Shetty told the court that the agency has found documentary evidence against Teltumbde and he was the convenor of Elgar Parishad that was organised on December 31, 2017. The agency has also alleged that Teltumbde has been a recipient of funds from the banned terror organisation CPI (Maoist).

�During investigation it is revealed that the role of present accused Anand Teltumbde has links with the banned outfit CPiI (Maoist),� the remand application stated.

The investigation agency has also accused Teltumbde of �hatching conspiracy� and �instigating enmity between two caste groups� which led to violence, loss of life and statewide agitation. �Since Teltumbde has been in an interim protection of various orders of honourable courts, the NIA has not had the opportunity to interrogate him,� the NIA lawyer argued.

Teltumbde, who was represented by his lawyer Maharukh Adenwala, told the court that while Teltumbe was abiding by the apex court�s order, he should not be taken into custody considering the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country.

�Dr. Teltumbde is 70 and he suffers from chronic bronchitis, and is an asthma patient,� she argued before the court.

In the application, Adenwala mentioned that Teltumbde suffers from cervical spondylitis, sapraspinatus tendinosis (associated with a small focal insertional tear) and prostratomegaly.

On 14 April 2020, Anand Teltumbde and Gautam Navlakha, acedemic and media worker, were sent to custody on fabricated charges based on Supreme Court request in New Delhi, India.

A Delhi court Wednesday granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, an MBA student and anti-CAA activist associated with women''s collective Pinjra Tod, in a case related to communal violence during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act in northeast Delhi in February.

Additional Sessions Judge Naveen Gupta granted the relief to Fatima on furnishing a bail bond of Rs 20,000 and a surety of like amount.

Fatima, an MBA student, was arrested for allegedly instigating a crowd of protestors that led to riots in the area. According to the FIR, she, along with others, allegedly instigated a crowd to block the road near Jaffrabad metro station on February 22 to protest against the CAA and National Register for Citizens (NRC).

The court granted the relief to the woman activist, arrested on April 9, on the ground of parity as three co-accused in the case, including Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) member Shafoora Zargar, have been granted bail in the case.

It directed Fatima to participate in the investigation and to regularly appear before the court as and when required to do so.

It said that as and when the court starts its regular functioning, the accused shall produce surety of the like amount within seven days.

Fatima was also arrested in a separate case related to northeast Delhi violence in which JCC member Meeran Haider, Zargar and suspended AAP Councillor Tahir Hussain have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

During the hearing held through video conferencing, Additional Public Prosecutor, appearing for the police, opposed the bail application saying the allegations were serious in nature and the investigation was at a crucial stage.

Advocate Mehhmood Pracha, appearing for Fatima, told the court that she has been falsely implicated in the rioting case and other co-accused have been granted bail earlier.

The FIR has booked the activist for the offences under sections 147 (rioting), 186 (obstructing a public servant from doing his duty), 188 (disobedience to order), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant), 283 ( danger or obstruction in public way), 109 (Abetment) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Communal clashes had broken out in northeast Delhi on February 24 after violence between citizenship law supporters and protesters spiralled out of control leaving at least 53 people dead and around 200 injured.

On 9 April 2020, Gulfisha Fatima, student, was arrested by police on false charges for joining a countrywide anti-CAA demonstration in february in Delhi, India.

Concerned citizens and activists have reported the arbitrary detention of human rights defenders Soneshwar Narah and Pranab Doley of the Jeepal Krishak Shramik Sangha (JKSS), a farmers� rights organization, by the Bokhkhat Police Station in Golaghat, Assam. While they were summoned to the police station on the pretext of an inquiry into a complaint filed by them on April 6, they were instead arrested on the basis of a First Information Report (FIR) filed 2 years prior in June 2018 and were taken to Golaghat jail.

Pranab Doley is the Secretary of the Jeepal Krishak Shramik Sangha and has been fighting for the rights of peasant and indigenous communities in Assam. Soneshwar Narah is the convener of the organization.

Doley and Narah were arrested on April 7, and citizens and other activists have written to Sarbananda Sonowal, the Chief Minister of Assam, demanding their unconditional release. The letter asking for endorsements and support for their release reads, �The circumstances under which they were arrested, imprisoned without an immediate bail makes the intention behind their arrest extremely suspicious and their arrest itself a violation of basic human rights and an attempt to suppress voices which are raising serious issues in these difficult times brought about by Covid-19.�

The letter states that a day before their arrest, Pranab and Soneshwar had sent a letter to the CM asking for a high-level probe in a scam related to siphoning off of 800 quintals of rice from the public distribution system (PDS) in Kaziranga Cooperative Society and Golaghat�s Community Cooperative Society. The letter reads, �On the day of the arrest Pranab and Soneshwar were called by the Police officials to the Bokakhat police station to submit written statements pertaining to their police complaint against Kaziranga Cooperative Society filed earlier at the same police station. However, without any prior information or warrant they were arrested as soon as they arrived at the police station.�

The police claim that these arrests were made under a case pending since 2018 when they were charged for �deterring a police personnel for discharging his duty.� The move is especially surprising given that state governments are tryong to decongest jails amid the Covid-19 outbreak. The letter states, �This is indeed surprising that two people raising a serious concern about corruption should be arrested in a 2 year old case in these times when even the Supreme Court of India has asked the states to decongest the prisons to avoid Covid -19 outbreak. Bokakhat Police had numerous opportunities to interact and investigate both Narah and Doley who have been in touch with District law enforcement in the last two years. In view of this prisoners have been released from prisons across the state. It is difficult to believe under these circumstances that Pranab and Soneshwar�s arrest has anything to do with any issue other than the PDS scam.�

The letter further reads that both, Narah and Doley, have been active during the lockdown, trying their best to help by providing essential commodities to those in need, especially when PDS rations are coming in irregular supply.

Through the letter, the citizens have urged the CM to intervene in the matter where the local police are misusing the law to silence the voice of human rights defenders who are bringing up the issue related to critical food for the most underprivileged in these extremely difficult times.

The entire letter may be read and signed below.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_nY4RiKR4aRNPPOk6BGnkv-Hb5Fl01ygvgPNIYCArug/edit

On 6 April 2020, Pranab Doley and Soneshwar Nara, indigenous people's rights defenders, arbitrarily were judicially harassed, arrested by the police for asking a probe on irregularities on rice distribution in Assam, India.

A week after National Herald exposed how Musahars � one of the most backward and poor sub-castes among Dalits � were pushed to eat grass due following the nationwide lockdown in Modi�s constituency Varanasi, UP police booked the social activist who highlighted the incident under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Saturday.

The activist, Mangla Rajbhar, belongs to the OBC community and is an active member of the People�s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), was first to bring up the plight of the Musahars on various social media platforms. He was instrumental in highlighting the issue in the local media also.

His colleagues in the PVCHR contend that UP police booked Rajbhar for his campaign which brought discredit to PM Modi in the press.

�Following his persistent campaigning, the incident of Musahars eating grass caught media attention. Due to his campaign, UP police and the Yogi Adityanath-led UP government had to face embarrassment in national and international media,� said Lenin Raghuvanshi, founder of the PVCHR.

Talking to NH over the phone, Raghuvanshi alleged, �Rajbhar came on police radar when he raised the issue of starvation among Musahars. Since PM Modi�s name also got highlighted in the coverage, police hatched a conspiracy and implicated him in a false case�.

Raghuvanshi has written a letter to the NHRC, demanding a probe and revocation of the case slapped on Rajbhar.

According to the FIR registered in Phulpur police station which is some 40 km away from Varanasi, police booked Rajbhar under Section 147 (punishment for rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 395 (punishment for dacoity) and 397 in a case related to a violent clash between two communities in a nearby village.

According to the local media, in Thana Goan, two groups fought over panchayat elections which are scheduled to be held in the coming months. When police reached to quell the fight, angry people pelted stone on policemen.

Saying that Rajbhar was not even present at the spot when the incident occurred, Raghuvanshi slammed the Yogi government for misusing the police. He said, �Social rights activists, human right activists and journalists are being targeted by the Yogi regime�.

On 4 April 2020, Mangla Rajbhar, NGO worker, was judicially harassed by the police for exposing living conditions of poor communities under lockdown in Pulphur, India.

Shadishkanta had company at the Porompat police station on the night of April 1 � Konsam Victor Singh, an employee at a government-run college in Imphal who had also been picked up from his home that evening.

When he asked the police officials why he was being detained, they told him it was related to a Facebook post he had written the previous day, claimed Victor Singh.

The post, written in the Meeteilon language, read: �CM covid-19 relief fund da CM Biren masagi oiba lupa kaya hapkhi khangbiba yaobibaro?� Does anybody know how much has Chief Minister Biren contributed to the CM Covid-19 relief fund?

At the police station, officials told him that there was �pressure from the chief minister�s side� to take action against him, said Victor Singh. �They told me I had no choice but to spend the night in lock-up,� he said.

There were no formal charges against him. The next morning, according to Victor Singh, the police told him he would be released if he deleted his Facebook post and posted an apology on the site. �I had spent the night with six other people in a small cell in the time of Covid-19, so I did what they asked me to,� he said.

He was released after he posted a new update on his Facebook page. It read: �I am deleting this post. I don�t have any negative intention towards the CM of Manipur.�

Haobijam declined comment on Victor Singh�s detention.

Two days later, on April 3, Laifungbam Debabrata Roy, a rights activist and a public health physician, was picked up from his home. At the police station, Roy said, he was asked to explain a Facebook post he had written the previous day.

It read: �The present Manipur Chief Minister, especially at this time of crisis, should desist from wasting State resources, time and personnel in carrying out any personal political agenda or vendetta. It demeans and belittles the position occupied and the responsibility that entails.�

Roy said he told the police official interrogating him that the post did not make any personal attack on the chief minister or his colleagues: �I told them it was just encouraging them not to waste time in pursuing other agenda in a time like this.�

Roy said he also wrote down his explanation, as demanded by the police. Yet they insisted that he had to spend the night in prison.

When his lawyer asked for a formal FIR, the police reportedly furnished a draft FIR that charged Roy under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code, a section that deals with actions that amount to �disobedience to follow order promulgated by public servant�. However, the FIR was not registered.

The next day, Roy was released after the police made a video of him reading out an apology note to the chief minister.

Imphal West police superintendent, K Meghachandra Singh, said Roy had accused the government of �wasting its resources�. �So, we had an interaction with him and released him on bail bond,� said the police official.

On 3 April 2020, Debabrata Roy, community-based HRD and public health physician, was detained by the police for criticising local Government on CVID-19 handling in a Facebook post in Imphal, India.

Dr. SP Udayakumar, aged 61 years is an Anti-Nuclear activist and President of Pachai Tamizhagam Katchi (Green Tamil Nadu Party). He is the convenor of the People's Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), which is protesting against the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant project. He is the founder of South Asian Community Center for Education and Research (SACCER). He obtained his Ph.D in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.

According to sources, on April 2, 2020, there was a nation-wide hunger-strike calling for relief measures for migrant labourers, against the communal angle being portrayed for spread of COVID-19. This hunger-strike was called for by Gandhian organisations which was to be followed by individuals at their homes. Dr. Udayakumar also observed the hunger-strike on the said date at his home in Kanyakumari district. He did not announce that he will be observing hunger strike at his residence to anyone publicly and also to the media persons. Meanwhile, on April 2, 2020, a case has been registered against Dr. Udayakumar at Kottar Police Station in Kanyakumari district with FIR No. 239/2020 u/s IPC 270 (Sec. 3 of Epidemic Disease Act) & IPC 188 (Sec. 51 of Disaster Management Act). It is alleged in the FIR that Dr. Udayakumar has disobeyed the prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC and held a press conference in his house with more than five persons. It is also believed that the media personnel were present to cover the news of Dr. Udayakumar observing hunger-strike only on the information provided by the police and through other public sources. It is a clear fact that Dr. Udayakumar did not announce publicly or call for a press meet on that day. It is pertinent to note that Dr. Udayakumar has been posting statements critical of government actions through his social media accounts. He has been critical of the measures taken by the government to tackle the transmission of COVID-19. He had also criticised the communal manner in which the Tamil Nadu government has been mentioning the personal details of the attendees of the religious event organised by Tablighi Jamaat at New Delhi. According to Dr. Udayakumar, this act of targeting a particular religion by the government would affect the communal harmony in the state.

Due to his critical statements against the government, there has been another case registered against him on April 5, 2020, at Kottar Police Station in Kanyakumari district with FIR no. 286/20 under Section 505 of the IPC, 1860 read with Section 67 of Information Technology Act, 2000. Dr. Udayakumar has been facing continuous harassment by the Tamil Nadu police and he already has 105 cases pending against him, including of charges of sedition from the anti-nuclear power plant struggle at Koodankulam. Out of the 105 cases, 68 cases are still in the FIR stage even after eight years of filing. He has also been active in several social issues in the state such as anti-Hydrocarbon struggles, Ockhi cyclone-related struggles, and the anti-CAA/NPR/NRC struggles. Hence, HRDA believes this act of the police of registering false cases against him is an act of reprisal due to his human rights work. Further, the recent acts of the Kottar Police Station significantly restricts his fundamental right of free expression guaranteed through Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.

On 2 April 2020, SP Udayakumar, academic, was falsely charged by the police for joining a national hunger strike calling for relief measures for migrant workers affected by CVID-19 pandemic in Kanyakumari, India

On April 1, the police detained and then arrested Takhenchangbam Shadishkanta, a human rights activist. Hours earlier, Shadishkanta�s organisation, Youth�s Forum for Protection of Human Rights, had issued a press release expressing concern about the government�s plans to build a quarantine centre on the outskirts of Imphal, the state capital. This was to house people who had come in contact with suspected Covid-19 patients but were asymptomatic.

�The location they had chosen has many paddy fields,� said U Jenison, a colleague of Shadishkanta. �As we work for the rights of indigenous people who are dependent on paddy farming, we asked them to build it on a nearby unused airstrip instead.�

Jenison alleged that Shadishkanta was picked up by the police from his home late evening on April 1. The police did not inform him or his family of the charges against him, said Jenison. Shadishkanta spent the night in jail.

On the afternoon of April 2, the police visited the home of the organisation�s president, Khangjrakpam Phajaton Mangang, picked him up and jailed him along with Shadishkanta. Mangangwas not apprised of the charges against him, either, claimed Jenison.

The police made the two sign an arrest memo that did not bear the time or grounds of arrest, he alleged. When a team from the human rights organisation demanded that they be shown the first information report that was the basis for the arrests, they were reportedly told that the police were still in the process of framing charges. That was on the evening of April 2.

It was only later in the evening that the police produced an FIR, said Jenison. The two activists had been charged under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005, and Section 120 (b) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with �criminal conspiracy�.

Soon afterwards, around 9.30 pm, Mangang and Shadishkanta were produced before the court of the chief judicial magistrate, East Imphal. They were released around 10 pm, after they produced a surety bond of Rs 30,000 each.

Jogeshchandra Haobijam, the chief of Imphal East police, said Mangang and Shadishkanta had been charged for suggesting the use of the air strip as a site for the quarantine centre. �It is defence land,� he said. �Any X or Y cannot say like that about defence land.�

On 1 April 2020, Takhenchangbam Shadishkanta and Khangjrakpam Phajaton Mangang, NGO workers with the Youth's Forum for Protection of Human Rights, were judicially harassed and arbitrarily arrested by the police for expressing concern on the Government's plan to build a COVID-19 quarantine center on the outskirts of Imphal, India.

Two days after he was granted bail by a National Investigation Agency (NIA) court in Assam, anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) activist Akhil Gogoi was arrested again on Thursday morning.

Although formalities regarding his bail were completed, the founder of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS), a farmers� rights body, could not avail it as police from Sibsagar district arrested him in a separate case.

�A police team from Sibsagar arrested him inside the central jail in Guwahati and took him away around 5:00 am on Thursday morning,� said Gogoi�s lawyer Shantanu Borthakur.

A court in Sibsagar, located 360 km east of Guwahati, had granted four-day custody to the police in connection with a case lodged against the RTI activist in December last year during the peak of anti-CAA protests, which Gogoi and his organisation had been spearheading.

�There are several cases lodged against Gogoi in many police stations. We still don�t have details of all of them. The one in Sibsagar was lodged suo motu by the police under 153A of IPC, a non-bailable section,� said Borthakur.

The IPC section deals with promoting enmity between different groups, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, language, residence etc and doing acts prejudicial for maintenance of harmony.

On Tuesday, the NIA court in Guwahati had granted bail to Gogoi after the agency failed to file chargesheet against him within 90 days of arrest and sought more time.

Gogoi was arrested at Jorhat on December 12 last year for his role in the protests against CAA, which seeks to fast forward citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists and Jains from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

He was later handed over to NIA and a court in Assam sent him in custody of the agency for 10 days. He was taken to New Delhi the same day for questioning.

Gogoi was brought back to Guwahati on December 25 and was in judicial custody ever since. Several demonstrations seeking his release following reports of his deteriorating health had taken place both in Assam and outside.

The NIA has lodged a case under sections 120B, 124A, 153A, 153B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 18 and Section 39 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act (UAPAA).

The charges pertain to criminal conspiracy, sedition, promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc., assertions against national integrity, support to terrorist organization etc.

On 17 March 2020, Akhil Gogoi, RTI activist, was re-arrested by the police days in a series of cases lodged agaisnt him for his role in 2019 anti-CAA protests in Sibsagar, India.

In yet another case of whistle-blowers being intimidated by mafia groups, Mahesh Vijayan, an RTI activist, who fights against illegal soil mining in the district, was attacked by a four member-gang on Tuesday night at his residence at Nattassery near here.

Mahesh was earlier attacked on the premises of the Kottayam municipal office on January 22, by some sand mining contractors, injuring him seriously. Later, Mahesh was threatened by another contractor over phone for moving against illegal sand mining in the district.

In a complaint filed at the Gandhi Nagar police station, Mahesh said the gangsters arrived at his house around 8 pm on Tuesday in a car, which was registered in the name of K S Ajayan, one of the accused who had attacked him at the Kottayam municipal office. “They asked me to come out of the house to discuss something. Sensing something was wrong I stayed on the veranda of my house. When they came to me and attacked me with hockey sticks and iron rods, I ran inside and closed the door. However, they tried to break open the door, but withdrew from the attempt when my mother and wife screamed for help,” Mahesh told TNIE.

Mahesh added that the miscreants came in a car bearing registration number KL-05-AU-6003 and he filed the complaint along with such details.

Gandhi Nagar station house officer Cletus K Joseph confirmed that police have prepared an FIR based on the complaint lodged by Mahesh and an investigation has been started. Mahesh said he was attacked for trying to prevent illegal sand mining.

On 11 February 2020, Mahesh Vijayan, RTI activist, was threatened and beaten by four men who raided the house where he lives with his wife and mother in relation to his investigation on illegal sand mining in Kottayam, India.

When a peaceful citizens’ foot march spooks Yogi Adityanath government and the group—which comprises not more than 10 people—is arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, it is evident that any solidarity to the arrested individuals will not be tolerated by the state police.

On Saturday, at least 12 were detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police allegedly for staging a fast in front of the Ghazipur’s district headquarter. Those detained include university students and local youth.

The collective action, as NewsClick has learnt, was in solidarity with those arrested earlier by UP police on the ninth day of the foot march which started from Chauri Chaura near Gorakhpur. The individuals, detained on Saturday, were allegedly also beaten up by the police.

“The police didn’t allow the individuals to stage a peaceful fast outside the district headquarter. The individuals have been detained in the afternoon,” Dhananjay, a Banaras Hindu University (BHU) student, told NewsClick over the phone.

No information as to when they will be released is being provided yet, he added.

In the wake of the protests erupting across the country against the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), police brutality, which includes violence against the protesters and custodial torture against those detained, has been reported in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As many as 23 have been reportedly killed in the state during the protests.

A group of students and activists, including a woman journalist, started a 60-day Nagrik Satyagraha Padayatra against the Uttar Pradesh Police’s brutalities in dealing with anti-CAA-NRC protests. They were accused of “instigating and misleading” people against CAA and NRC, reported The Telegraph.

Earlier, in a letter dated February 13, to the District Magistrate, the detained satyagrahis had said that they were starting a fast from 5 pm on Thursday against their arrest.

In a statement released on the same day, the detainees condemned their arrest and said the “police have tried to shrink and divert objective of our yatra”.

“In the FIR, they said that our yatra is against CAA and NRC,” however, “our yatra is against every form of violence and hate which exists in society and to spread the ideas of Gandhi.”

If this was not enough, a local Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) issued notices for bail bonds of Rs. 2.5 lakh each, along with two Gazetted persons per individual as guarantors.

“It is sad to note that a yatra which aims to spread the Gandhian values was not being allowed by a government which does its politics in Gandhi’s name,” Dhananjay said, who is also a representative of the BHU Joint Action Committee which is seeking release of those who are arrested.

On 15 February 2020, at least 12 youth and students were detained for staging a peaceful demonstration in solidarity with 8 fellow protesters arrested earlier in the week by the police in Ghazipur District, India.

Days after a group of students and activists, including a female journalist, were released on bail from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district jail, the police took them into custody again citing a law and order situation, news website newsclick.in reported.

The protesters were supposed to resume their ‘satyagraha’ foot march from Ghazipur city to Delhi. However, the police stopped them, took them into different police vans and left them at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU).

After spending six days in jail, the ‘satyagrahis’ were released on bail in the evening of February 16. Soon after their release, the students announced they were restarting their march, only to be arrested again by the police.

Manish, a protester who was arrested by the police said: “On February 11, everyone was arrested from Birno village in Ghazipur without any prior notice in the presence of two Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Tehsildar, Superintendent of Police (SP) along with about a hundred cops.” Manish said students were told that what they were doing was “illegal”, despite “conducting the march in a manner which does not even breach Section 144, forming groups of three who would go to colleges, religious sites and other public places to raise awareness about the hatred bifurcating society on communal lines.”

He added that a trainee IAS officer detained the students and kept them in Hawai Patti for two hours before sending them to the Ghazipur district jail. “We have been told by cops that our march can make thousands of people stand in our favour,” he said.

He said there was a lot of “pressure” on the administration to stop the march so that they could not discuss the CAA and NRC with people in villages. The student adds that the police is “continuously threatening us and our family” so that they retreat. “Their objection is that we are marching for those killed during the CAA and NRC protests. I don't know why this government is scared of non-violent persons following the Gandhian Path. We will continue our satyagraha no matter what hurdles come in between," added Manish.

When asked about those detained today, Manish said that people had joined them midway. “They all (12 people) were taken into custody on Monday morning when they were gearing up to continue their foot march but police officials put all of them in the police van and freed them at the main gate of BHU. Five of us who escaped from police also started marching towards Delhi from Ghazipur itself,” he mentioned.

On February 11, Uttar Pradesh Police arrested ten young Gandhian activists for organising a march to Delhi for promoting communal harmony. The activists were marching from the iconic Chauri Chaura to Varanasi in wake of protests over the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the brutal repression by state police resulting in deaths of 23 people.

The activists had alleged the police arrested them without citing any reason.

Meanwhile, journalist Pradeepika Saraswat, who was the only woman member among the group of ten to fifteen people who were arrested and kept in Ghazipur district jail, has written a letter from jail which has been making the rounds on social media.

Saraswat penned down a heartfelt note on the condition of the jail, as well her own experience of jail. "There are more than 40 women in two barracks within the jail while one barrack is for only six detainees. Even the officials here believe that there are no complete arrangements in the jail," the journalist wrote in her letter.

On 11 February 2020, a group of ten including students and a female media worker, were prevented from continuing a walking protest against CAA and arrested by the police in Ghazipur District, India.