FIR Filed Against HW News Network Journalists By Tripura Police

The FIR has been filed on the basis of a written complaint submitted by Kanchan Das who is a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Agartala/Dharmanagar: An FIR has been filed against two HW News Network journalists Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha in Fatikroy police station in the Unakoti district of Tripura. The FIR has been filed under charges IPC Section 120B (Criminal Conspiracy), 153A (Promoting enmity between different religious groups) and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace).

Both Ms Samriddhi and Ms Swarna Jha have been covering the Tripura Violence that erupted in the state post-attack on the Hindu minority in Bangladesh.

The FIR has been filed on the basis of a written complaint submitted by Kanchan Das who is a member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The FIR alleges that Ms Samriddhi and Ms Swarna while visiting a Muslim locality in Paul Bazar area of Unakoti district, delivered “instigating speeches against Hindus and Tripura Govt”.

The complainant also said that Ms Samriddhi “falsely imparted” the name of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal behind the fire at Paul Bazar Masjid. “The complainant alleged that being a part of criminal conspiracy, and to destroy the communal harmony in Tripura as well as to malign VHP and Tripura govt the account holder intentionally imparted the name of VHP in that incident which would affect the harmony between Hindu and Muslim community. “

According to Ms Sakunia, the police arrived at the hotel they were staying in at around 10:30 PM at night and served the FIR copy in the morning at 5:30 am. The police, however, did not produce any warrant.

#Tripura FIR. against @Samriddhi0809
and I
कल रात फोटिक रॉय पुलिस स्टेशन में मेरे और @Samriddhi0809 के खिलाफ विश्व हिंदू परिषद ने FIR दर्ज किया. IPC की तीन धारा 120 (B),153(A),504 के तहत FIR दर्ज किया गया है. FIR की कॉपी नीचे है. pic.twitter.com/8b8X7d8Lyo

— swarna (@Jha_Swarnaa) November 14, 2021

Section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 states that women cannot be arrested after sunset and before sunrise. The provisions of sub-section (4) of Section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 mandates that, if the Police want to arrest a woman after sunset, they have to seek prior permission of the Magistrate, and arrest should be made by a Lady Police Officer.

Even in unavoidable circumstances, prior permission of the Judicial Magistrate of the first class within whose local jurisdiction the offence is committed must be obtained.

However, the police have failed to provide any court order.

FIR🚨 in #Tripura@Jha_Swarnaa and I, the correspondent at @hwnewsnetwork have been booked under 3 sections of IPC at the Fatikroy police station, Tripura.

VHP filed complaint against me and @Jha_Swarnaa FIR has been filed under the section: 120(B), 153(A)/ 504.

Copy of FIR pic.twitter.com/a8XGC2Wjc5

— Samriddhi K Sakunia (@Samriddhi0809) November 14, 2021

Ms Sakunia and Ms Jha were to leave for state capital Agartala, however, the police did not allow them to move. “This, despite the full cooperation from our side regarding the details of our visit, ” Ms Sakunia said.

There were around 16-17 police deployed outside the hotel.

HW News Network will soon issue an official statement.

(More details soon)