Arrests – Journalists

IN what can be construed as an assault on the freedom of the press, MiD DAY reporter Tarakant Dwivedi, better known as Akela, has been put behind bars by the CST Government Railway Police (GRP) for exposing the poor condition in which hi-tech weapons procured after the 26/11 attack were being kept by the railway security forces.

The article published in Mumbai Mirror (‘Leaks in CST armoury put new anti-terror arms under threat’, June 28, 2010), where Akela used to work before joining MiD DAY, stated that all the new arms and ammunition were stored in a dank, decrepit room, where water was dripping from the roof and damaging them.

Akela, a veteran journalist with more than 15 years of experience under his belt, had reported on the issue in public interest and the article had shaken the railway security forces out of their slumber and had even resulted in the transfers of a few senior officials.

Clearly, however, this article, and others before it, rubbed some officials in high places the wrong way, for one Pradeep Sontalia tried to file a complaint against Akela, a policeman and one more person with the CST GRP for trespassing into the Arms Koth (armoury) of the Cash Guard Section in connection with the article in September that year.