A day after the Supreme Court refused to grant extension of bail to Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra, his lawyer on Friday sought security from the Odisha police to appear before the House Committee formed by the Odisha Assembly.
Though Mitra was supposed to appear before the Konark police on the day, he did not turn up. Two cases have been registered against him at the Konark police station in Puri district and another at the Saheed Nagar police station in Bhubaneswar following his derogatory remarks against Odisha and its people.
As Mitra’s legal protection was ending on October 5, he had moved the Supreme Court seeking extension of his bail tenure on Thursday which was rejected.
Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi said Mitra’s lawyer has sought security from the police in an email.
“His counsel has informed that Mitra would appear before the House Committee on October 11 and sought protection. We have forwarded the mail to the Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police as the Assembly comes under their jurisdiction,” Sarangi said.
Notably, Mitra was arrested and subsequently granted bail by a New Delhi Court on September 20. He has been booked under different sections of the IPC including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.)