Two women journalists, arrested by Tripura police over their writings on the recent communal incidents which allegedly created a "sense of hatred between communities", were granted bail by a magistrate's court on Monday.
Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were produced before the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) of Gomati district Shubhra Nath, who granted them bail on bail bonds of `7,500. They have been asked to mark their attendance at Kakrabon police station of the district on Tuesday before leaving the state.
Presenting his arguments for bail, their advocate Pijush Biswas asserted there was no evidence that they spread communal hatred. "The charges made against the journalists are completely baseless. Police filed the case with mala fide intention,” he insisted.
Biswas said his clients will move the Supreme Court for quashing the case. An FIR was filed against the journalists at Fatikroy police station on Sunday on a complaint by a VHP supporter alleging that they had maligned the image of the Tripura government with their reporting, according to a statement issued by their employer.
The duo was detained by Assam police in Karimganj district on Sunday, when they were on way to Silchar airport, at the request of Tripura police, and kept at a Government-run shelter home for women.
They were arrested by Tripura police on Monday morning and produced before the CJM's court in Gomati district. A senior Tripura police official had claimed the journalists planned to fly outside the state. Officials asked them to meet some police officers before leaving. The duo then started for Silchar in Assam without informing the authorities, prompting Tripura police to request their Assam counterparts to detain them.
The official said the journalists had posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged. “Police suspect that the videos uploaded by her (Sakunia) were doctored and police want to know if the videos are fake or true by interrogating them," he added. In a tweet on November 11, Sakunia had written, “#Tripuraviolence Darga Bazaar: On 19th October at around 2:30 am, some unidentified people burnt down the mosque in Darga Bazaar area. People in the neighborhood are very upset with the fact that now they don't have any place nearby to go and pray.”
A press release issued by the office of Tripura police chief V S Yadav had claimed that Sakunia's posts were not true and promoted a sense of hatred between communities.