Raipur: Police on Saturday arrested another “journalist” in Maoist-dominated Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh’s conflict zone of Bastar, on charges of entering an examination Centre in the area without authorisation a few months ago. Police said Dipak Jaiswal was arrested at Gidam in south Bastar district of Dantewada.
He was the fourth journalist to be rounded up in Bastar in the past six months.
Mr Jaiswal was arrested in a case registered against him a few months ago on the complaint of principal of Hiranpur high school in Gidam, alleging that he along with one of his accomplices Prabhat Singh forcibly entered the school premises, assaulted teachers and staff members and demanded money, Dantewada district superintendent of police Kamal Lochan Kashyap told this newspaper.
Mr Kashyap however said Mr Jaiswal was not a journalist. “We have verified records with district public relations department. There is no record in the department to establish that Jaiswal is a journalist,” he said.
However, local media claimed that he worked for a Gidam-based Hindi daily.
Prabhat Singh, a journalist with a local Hindi daily, was arrested last week for allegedly texting “objectionable” comments on a WhatsApp group against a senior police officer posted in Bastar.
Mr Singh’s arrest sparked a wave of protests and condemnation with National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) expressing dismay and sending a notice to the Chhattisgarh government.
