Two female journalists, Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, arrested on charges of publishing false news aimed at disrupting communal harmony, were on MOnday granted bail by a court in Gomati district.
The two woman journalists who had written about the recent communal incidents in Tripura and were detained by Assam police, were today arrested by Tripura police.
Advocate Pijush Biswas who appeared before the court said, the bail to the two female journalists has been granted on bail bond of Rs 75,000 each. "The court has asked them to appear before Kakraban Police Station where the case was registered. After questioning, they would be released," he added.
Samriddhi Sakunia and Swarna Jha, journalists with HW News Network, were named in a FIR at Fatikroy Police Station in Tripura on Sunday on a complaint filed by a VHP supporter.
"Our reporters Ms Samriddhi Sakunia and Ms Swarna Jha have been arrested by Tripura Police today at around 12:55 AM from shelter home in Assam's Karimganj after securing their transit remand. They were being taken back to Tripura where they will be produced before Udaipur magistrate court.
A senior police official had said in Agartala on Sunday the journalists posted on social media that a mosque was burnt in Gomati district and a copy of the Quran was damaged.
Tripura police suspect that the videos uploaded by them were doctored.
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 VS Yadav claimed that the posts by Sakunia were not true and promoted a sense of hatred between communities.
The Editors Guild of India had denounced police action against the journalists and demanded their immediate release.
(With agency inputs)
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