On Monday, the Raipur police added charges related to the IT Act and the prevention of immoral trafficking law against a journalist who was arrested last week for "spreading fake news" about "Congress leaders", the Indian Express reported.
Journalist Nilesh Sharma had been arrested following a complaint filed by a "Congress worker" who accused him and his portal, Indian Writers, of "driving a wedge between the Congress leaders". The FIR also accused Sharma of "spreading negativity".
It should be noted that Sharma also writes political satire, which the complaint had allegedly singled out.
Following his arrest, Indian Express reported that the police claimed to have found "objectionable content" on Sharma's phone "unrelated to the original arrest".
In a press release, the police accused Sharma of "indulging in prostitution, blackmailing and obscene chats with both genders", and said he was "ruining the name of journalists and journalism".
In a similar instance in October last year, a journalist and his technical assistant from Chhattisgarh were also arrested for publishing “misleading and baseless” information after two Congress MLAs had filed a complaint against them.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
