Tripura: 2 women journalists, arrested for alleged inflammatory posts on communal violence, were granted bail by Tripura court on Monday. A Tripura police spokesman said the journalists — Samriddhi K. Sakunia and Swarna Jha, have been detained by Nilam Bazaar police station of Karimganj district in Assam on the request of the Tripura police. A statement by Tripura police on Sunday said the 2 journalists had come to Tripura on Thursday, and a case has been filed against them in the Kakraban Police Station (in southern Tripura’s Gomati district) on Sunday under various sections of the IPC for “creation of hatred between communities by fabricating, concealing of record etc. in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy as revealed from the Twitter posts by Samriddhi Sakunia”.
The investigating officer felt it wise to lodge a suo-moto complaint about creating hatred between religious groups by false fabrication, concealing documents etc.,” said the statement. It said the police asked the2 journalists to share the documents visible in their videos but instead of coming to Agartala, the 2 reporters made an escape towards Assam. They were also found involved in spreading communal hatred at Paul Bazaar in North Tripura district and another case was also registered against them at the Fatikroy police station under various sections of the IPC, the statement said.
They were served with notices and supposed to appear before the investigation agency by November 21st according to their convenience, it added. The media house where Sakunia and Jha work in a statement, criticizing the Tripura police and questioning the procedure of the arrest of the 2 journalists, said, “This is sheer harassment and targeting of the press on the part of Tripura police and Tripura government to suppress us from reporting the facts of the case.” The FIR has been filed at the Fatikroy police station on the basis of a written complaint submitted by Kanchan Das, who is a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the media house said.