Tripura Violence: A case has been filed against Sammriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha.
Two women journalists in Tripura have been named in an FIR (first information report) after a complaint by the right-wing group Vishva Hindu Parishad. The journalists - Sammriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha - alleged that the cops came to their hotel early this morning and "intimidated" them.
Sources, however, claimed a team of cops had gone to question them after the complaint was filed. Even as Ms Sakunia alleged in a tweet that they were not allowed to leave the hotel, sources said the journalists were "only served a notice" and later asked to appear for questioning on November 21.
While the Home Ministry has trashed the reports about the vandalism of a mosque in Gomati district, Ms Jha, in a series of tweets, said they spoke to locals about the allegations. "Last night, at around 10:30 PM, cops came outside our hotel but they did not talk to us. When we were about to checkout at around 5:30 am, they told us about the complaint against us and told us about being taken to Dharamnagar Police Station for questionining," Ms Jha wrote in Hindi.
She also shared a copy of the FIR (first information report), and mentioned a rally by the VHP in another tweet where she elaborated about what locals said.
Ms Sakunia this morning had tweeted: "We were supposed to leave for the capital Agartala but have been not allowed to move despite full cooperation. There are around 16-17 police deployed outside our hotel."
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.
— Samriddhi K Sakunia (@Samriddhi0809) November 14, 2021
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
The police arrived yesterday at the hotel around 10:30 at night and served the FIR copy in the morning 5:30am. We were supposed to leave for the capital Agartala but have been not allowed to move despite full cooperation. There are around 16-17 police deployed outside our hotel.
— Samriddhi K Sakunia (@Samriddhi0809) November 14, 2021
"I will be putting out a statement soon iterating all the intimidation I had to face while covering the #Tripura story soon. Meanwhile, we are seeking legal remedy. Ps. We aren't allowed to move outside from our hotel. (sic)."
Both of them may be questioned in a fake news circulation case, sources have said.
On Saturday, the Home Ministry dismissed reports of vandalism at a mosque in the BJP-ruled state. "There have been news reports that have been circulating that a mosque in Kakraban area of Gomati district in Tripura has been damaged and vandalised. These news reports are fake and are a complete misrepresentation of facts," a strongly-worded statement read.
Last week, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube were asked by the Tripura Police to provide details of over a hundred accounts from which allegedly fake and provocative posts were made.
Recently, over a dozen criminal cases have been filed and action has been taken against 70 people including Supreme Court lawyers, activists, and religious campaigners.
Journalist Shyam Meera Singh and lawyers Ansar Indori (from the National Confederation of Human Rights Organisation) and Mukesh (from the Peoples' Union of Civil Liberties) approached the Supreme Court to nix FIRs against them.
