Chhattisgarh journalist arrested for posting WhatsApp message against police officer

Prabhat Singh's arrest is the third such action against journalists in Chhattisgarh's restive Bastar region.

Raipur: Questions have been raised on the freedom of press in Chhattisgrah after a Dantewada-based journalist was arrested for alleging posting a derogatory message against a police officer on WhatsApp.

Prabhat Singh was arrested on Monday in Jagdalpur and produced in a local court yesterday and remanded in judicial custody till March 31. Singh has alleged that he was assaulted by policemen in custody.

As per reports, Singh had sent a WhatsApp message that read: “Patrakaar suraksha kanoon se keval unhen parhez hai jo already mama ki ***** mein baithe hai (Only those who are already sitting in mama’s ***** have a problem with the journalists’ protection law). The “Mama” in the message ris a term commonly used by journalists of the region to refer to a top police officer in the Bastar range.

Two other local journalists Somaru Nag and Santosh Yadav are also in prison for allegedly helping Naxals.

Also, the police had allegedly forced a contributor for the website Scroll.in was to leave Bastar.