Arrests – Journalists

Jharkhand police, on July 17, arrested Jharkhand-based independent journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh and charged him under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as well as the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to his family members, Saraikela Kharsawan district police searched Singh’s house in Ramgarh for over nine hours before arresting him. Singh’s wife, Ipsa Shatakshi, told The Wire, “The police force knocked on our door at 5:25 in the morning and served us a search warrant. We cooperated with them.”

The 10-member search team of the police was headed by deputy superintendent of police (HQ) Chandan Kumar Vats. “The two lady police searched our kitchen. They checked if there were suspicious things in the rice, flour etc.,” Shatakshi said. “Police searched for nine hours but didn’t disclose that they had an arrest warrant, too. Only five minutes before the arrest, the police showed us the warrant,” she alleged.