Agartala Police Detains, Questions India Tomorrow Scribe

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Tripura police detains, questions India Tomorrow reporter.

Syed Khalique Ahmed

NEW DELHI—Agartala police detained India Tomorrow correspondent Masihuzzama Ansari early morning today and released him after two hours of questioning.

Ansari has been in Tripura for the last three days, covering recent anti-Muslim incidents in the state.

He filed excellent stories from Panisagar, Naraora town of Sipahijila district, and Gomati district with video statements of victims whose properties were destroyed by the rioters. 

Ansari also took video statements of some imams of the torched mosques, besides the people living around the mosque. His stories uncovered the falsehood being spread by the Tripura police that no mosque was burned or demolished during the week-long violence. 

As Panisagar was the worst hit, he wanted to revisit Panisagar on Wednesday to meet the local people whose properties had been destroyed. He also wanted to meet BJP MLA Bbinay Bhushan Das to get his version about the riots. 

The purpose behind meeting the BJP leader was to question him regarding Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) radicals allegedly involved in the violence. The vandalism in Panisagar took place during the VHP. While police claimed no mosque was vandalized in Panisagar, local Muslims showed Ansari two mosques that the hooligans pulled down. However, the police claim they were not mosques, but both were used as mosques until they were brought down on October 26.

So, on Wednesday (November 3) morning, he left at 6 a.m. From the Tripura Haj House (Ansari is staying in the Haj House) to board a train for Panisagar. 

However, two policemen, one of them in plainclothes, emerged from a house in front of the Haj House and detained Ansari. As a result, he was not allowed to go to the railway station.

Ansari was taken to the west Tripura police station, where he was questioned by several policemen, including a police sub-inspector. They asked him in detail about the organization he was representing and the purpose for which he had gone to Tripura. 

The operatives also checked his mobile phone set. He  showed the phone numbers of police officials, including Director General of Police (DGP) V S Yadav and Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) Arindam Nath, whom the India Tomorrow team had called up to know their version about the Tripura incidents. India Tomorrow also published a story quoting Additional Superintendent of Police (media) Jyotish Man, who said that “no mosque nor any other religious place was vandalized in Panisagar or at any other place in Tripura.”

The police also questioned Ansari about a Muslim delegation that had visited the riot spots to gather first-hand information about vandalism and the destruction of mosques and Muslim properties. After visiting the riot-hit places, the Muslim delegation addressed the media at Agartala Press Club. The delegation held Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Das guilty for the incidents. It demanded suspension of the police officials in whose jurisdiction the anti-Muslim violence had occurred, particularly the Superintendent of Police of the Panisagar district and the local Station House Officer. The vandalism in Panisagar took place in the presence of police.

The police played a video of the press conference addressed by the Muslim delegation. They asked India Tomorrow reporter about the identity of the delegation members, something with which Ansari was not connected. The delegation left Tripura after addressing the media. The police should have talked to the delegation members themselves if they wanted any information about them. It was unprofessional on the part of the police to subject a report to dig out information about some people with which he has no connection. Ansari had covered the press conference and reported it for the India Tomorrow portal like other journalists at Agartala.

After I learned about Ansari’s detention, I immediately called up a Tripura police IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi, requesting him to ensure the safety and security of the India Tomorrow scribe. I also spoke to Agartala Press Club president Subal Kumar Dey who immediately took up the issue with appropriate authorities and ensured that no harm was done to Ansari.

India Tomorrow also informed Umakant Uakhera and Vinay Kumar, president and secretary of Press Club of India, respectively. We also sent messages about detention to Editors Guild of India president Seema Mustafa and secretary Sanjay Kapoor, informing them of the development with our reporter in Tripura.

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