Chhattisgarh: 2 Cong MLAs deny allegations in news report, journos arrested

Two journalists working for a web portal here in

Chhattisgarh were arrested on the charge of extortion on the complaint of two MLAs of Congress who alleged that the accused duo had published a “misleading and baseless” targetting them, police said on Tuesday.

In their complaint to police, MLAs Brihaspat Singh and Kuldeep Juneja alleged the accused duo, identified as Madhukar Dubey and his assistant Avinash Palliwar, had published a misleading and baseless report on their news portal on October 24 in a bid to extort from the legislators, an officer said.

The journalists were arrested on Monday, said Civil Lines police station house officer (SHO) Satyaprakash Tiwari.

Police have registered a case under sections 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 384 (extortion), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 505(1)(b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or the public tranquility) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he added.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor