Laxman Choudhury, a newspaper reporter based Gajapati (in the state of Orissa) who has written about alleged local police links with organised crime, has been detained for more than three weeks on a sedition charge in state capital Bhubaneswar on the grounds that he was sent Maoist leaflets in the mail.
“Choudhury’s arbitrary and unjustifiable arrest by the Gajapati police violated the Indian constitution,†Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontières (RSF) said. “He is the victim of an act of revenge by local authorities who were worried by his revelations. We call for his immediate release and the withdrawal of all charges against him.â€
A reporter for the daily newspaper Sambad, Choudhury was arrested on September 20 in possession of Maoist leaflets he had received in the mail.
Sampad Mahapatra, NDTV’s Orissa bureau chief, told RSF, “The police wanted to teach him a lesson for exposing their connivance with the local mafia. Laxman had received the leaflets like a dozen other journalists, including me. The Maoists send their press releases and leaflets to reporters on a regular basis. They constitute news material and receiving them can under no circumstances be regarded as evidence of Maoist links.â€
When a delegation of four journalists went to see Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik, he promised to order an investigation into the allegations that Chaudhury’s arrest was an act of revenge. Choudhury is meanwhile still waiting to appear before the Orissa high court on charges of sedition.
“Laxman is a working journalist and does not deserve such treatment,†Mahapatra added. “We have condemned the police action and we expect the state government to behave responsibly when dealing with any member of the media fraternity.â€
