Arrests – Journalists, Lawfare – Detention, Journalists

Four journalists covering the Agnipath protests in Patna were detained by police after one of them, Amir Hamza, was roughed up and shoved by a police officer. Hamza, a journalist working with a newschannel on Youtube ‘The Activist’, was arrested and is yet to get bail.

Of the four, Hamza was kept in the Kotwali police station lock-up in Patna Central while the other three, Vikas Vadav, Waseem and Patel, were released. Charged with obstructing a police officer on duty, Hamza was produced before a magistrate only today, on June 20. 2022, more than 24 hours after his arrest.

Ved Prakash, the editor of ‘The Activist’ told Free Speech Collective that Hamza’s lawyer pointed out to the Magistrate that police had detained Hamza without following any procedure in the morning. He was charged under Sec 353 of the Indian Penal Code on Saturday afternoon, remained in police custody all through Sunday and was produced before a magistrate more than 24 hour after his arrest.