Jharkhand: Pegasus ‘target’ journo, arrested a day ago, has ‘Maoist links’

Singh was arrested as part of the ongoing investigation in the case filed with the Kandra police station in Saraikela-Kharsawan district on November 13, 2021, after the arrest of top Maoist Prashant Bose alias Kishanda.

A freelance journalist in Jharkhand, who figured on the list of people allegedly targeted by the Pegasus spyware and who was arrested on Sunday, had links with Maoists, police have claimed.

Rupesh Kumar Singh was arrested on Sunday from his residence in Ramgarh and was produced before a court in Saraikela on Monday, which sent him into judicial custody. (Picture for representation)

“Rupesh Kumar Singh was arrested on Sunday from his residence in Ramgarh and was produced before a court in Saraikela on Monday, which sent him into judicial custody. He was arrested based on evidence collected during the investigation. He is closely connected with Maoists and their activities,” said AV Homkar, inspector general of police (operations).

Singh was arrested as part of the ongoing investigation in the case filed with the Kandra police station in Saraikela-Kharsawan district on November 13, 2021, after the arrest of top Maoist Prashant Bose alias Kishanda, who carried a cash reward of ₹1 crore, and five others, police said.

After his arrest, Bose was booked under the stringent anti-terror law, Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), besides under sections of the India Penal Code (IPC).

According to journalist Singh’s wife Ipsa Satakshi, the police arrested her husband after conducting an eight-hour long search operation at their home in Binjhar area of Ramgarh district. “They knocked at our doors at 5.30 am, saying they have a search warrant. However, they arrested my husband around 2 pm. They did not even tell us in which case was he being arrested. I met my husband briefly at the office of superintendent of police (SP) in Saraikela and then at Sadar hospital where he was taken for medical test before being taken to jail,” said Satakshi.

“During our meeting, Rupesh told me police were questioning him about his links with Prashant Bose while claiming they had audio and video footages to prove their links. During the search at our home, the police didn’t take away his laptop after being told it was new, but took away my sister’s laptop, which was brought in 2014. I will fight his case legally. He was arrested in 2019 as well but finally he came out on bail after six months because police could not even file a charge sheet against him,” she said.

Rupesh, who originally belongs to Bhagalpur, was arrested on June 4, 2019, by Bihar Police from Gaya on charges of having Maoist links. However, he came out on bail on December 6, 2019.