Journalist Prashant Kanojia Arrested Over Some 'Tweets' From Delhi Residence

NEW DELHI: The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday arrested journalist Prashant Kanojia from his Delhi residence claiming a tweet allegedly posted by him had “disrupted communal harmony”.

Kanojia confirmed the news by retweeting journalists tweets who broke the news.

He was reportedly taken to the Vasant Vihar police station in the Capital and will be shifted to Lucknow thereafter.

Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said Kanojia’s arrest was a testimony to the “dictatorial attitude” of the Uttar Pradesh government. “Now the government is suffering due to people reading and writing,” he added. “We are constantly surrounded by times of emergency. Immediate release of Prashant Kanojia is to be ensured.”

UP police's FIR points out to a deleted tweet URL and says that Kanojia’s tweet had shown Hindu Army leader Sushil Tiwari as saying the Ram temple in Ayodhya should not allow Dalits, STs and OBCs entry.

Last year, Kanojia, a former journalist at The Wire Hindi, was arrested by the UP Police for social media posts he wrote about Chief Minister Adityanath. The FIR against him alleged that he made comments “maligning the image of the chief minister”. Later, his release was ordered by the Supreme Court and he was released from jail on June 19, 2019.

The charges against Kanojia related to a video he had shared on Twitter, which showed a woman speaking to reporters outside the CMO, claiming that she had been talking to CM Adityanath over video chat and had sent a marriage proposal to him.