Chhattisgarh journo booked for sending WhatsApp' message against senior cop

Chhattisgarh: The police booked a Dantewada-based journalist on Tuesday for forwarding an alleged message on Whatsapp about a senior police official, according to reports.

The scribe, Prabhat Singh, was produced in a local court on Tuesday. During the hearing, he accused the police officers of assaulting him. He has been remanded to judicial custody till March 31, said his lawyer.

Besides the aforementioned case, Singh has also been booked for three other cases since 2015, two of the cases are related to an alleged scam linked with an Adhaar facilitation unit run by him in Dantewada.

The Whatsapp message posted by him was allegedly obscene. According to the police, the message read: ‘Patrakaar suraksha kanoon se keval unhen parhez hai jo already mama ki ***** mein baithe hai’ (Only the people who are supporting the senior police officials have a problem with the Journalists’ protection law).

An FIR was registered against Singh on March 5 after being accused by another journalist Santosh Tiwari for posting obscene messages against a senior police official on the WhatsApp group named Bastar news on March 1, said a senior police official.

Further, the official also rubbished the allegations levelled by Singh against the senior cop.

Singh had also filed a complaint with the Dantewada police against the Samajik Ekta Manch, which is a controversial group in Bastar that conducts varied events along with Chhattisgarh police. He has accused the organisation of defaming him on a WhatsApp group, according to reports. Singh also said that the charge levelled against him is a result of personal vendetta.

Often been termed as a police state by the opposition Congress, Chhattisgarh has testified similar events in the past wherein journalists were booked for their stance against the police or their alleged Maoist links.

Journalists Santosh Yadav and Somaru Nag were booked for their alleged links with Naxals.