Photo Source: Facebook Account of Rudra Rajesh Singh Kundu.
Hisar police registers FIR against local journalist for promoting enmity through social media post
Chandigarh, April 11, 2021:
A journalist has been booked by the Hisar police for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups and cyber terrorism through his social media post.
The accused has been identified as Rudra Rajesh Singh Kundu, who is an independent journalist and is a founder of ‘The Ink’, a news portal. Kundu also worked as a media consultant to Haryana jails and power minister Ranjit Chautala in the past.
According to the police, Kundu put various posts on WhatsApp and Facebook with hastag ‘#alert’ and wrote ‘be prepared to face caste violence within a week in Hisar’. He also wrote, ‘the violence will be a blueprint for experiment in state and then in the country.’
A case has been registered in this regard under Sections 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc) and 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the IPC and Section 66F (charges of cyber terrorism) of the Information and Technology Act at the Hisar Civil Lines police station.
Notably, the accused was very active during the farmers’ agitation.
On the other side, many political leaders including Kumari Selja, Deepender Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala and Kiran Chaudhary, Abhay Chautala, and journalist associations have condemned registration of the FIR against Kundu and demanded its immediate withdrawal. As per the leaders, the journalist was booked as he had shown the actual situation of the farmers’ agitation at Delhi borders and had also been raising voice in this regard.
Kundu said through his Facebook, "I came to know that on occasion of Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, there was a possibility of clash between two groups. I wanted to alert the people for the unity. However, I did not mentioned the name of place in my post so that people don't panic. I believe that there is a misunderstanding on police part. I appeal them to review the matter again and withdraw the case filed against me." (Source: ht tweet and Facebook)