Jharkhand scribe arrested in same case lodged against top Maoist leader Kishanda

The Jharkhand police alleged that freelance journalist Rupesh Kumar Singh is closely connected with the Maoists and their activities

Eight months after the arrest of top Maoist leader Prashant Bose alias Kishanda, the Jharkhand police have arrested an independent journalist, Rupesh Kumar Singh, from Ramgarh in connection with the same case lodged against Bose, police said on Tuesday.

Jharkhand scribe Rupesh Kumar Singh was earlier arrested by the Bihar police on charges of Maoist links and was released on bail.

Rupesh Kumar Singh, who also figured on the list of journalists who were targeted by the Pegasus spyware, was arrested as part of the ongoing investigation in the case filed with the Kandra police station in Saraikela-Kharsawan district on November 13 last year against Kishanda, who carried a cash reward of ₹1 crore, and five others, police said.

“Rupesh was arrested on Sunday from his residence and was produced before court Saraikela on Monday and has been forwarded into judicial custody. He has been arrested based on several pieces of evidence collected during the investigation. He is closely connected with Maoists and their activities,” said AV Homkar, inspector general (operations).

Kishanda, a central committe member of the Communist Party of India (Maoists),or CPI (Maoists), was arrested from near a toll plaza under the Kandra police station. An FIR was registered on the complaint of sub divisional officer under various Sections including 420, 467, 469, 471 besides section 17 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act and under Section 10/17 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).

Ipsa Satakshi, wife of Rupesh Kumar Singh, who lived in Binjhar area in Ramgarh district, said the police arrested her husband after conducting an eight-hour long search operation at their house.

“They knocked at our doors at 5.30am saying they have a search warrant. However, they arrested him at around 2pm. They did not even tell us in which case he was being arrested. I met him for brief periods at the SP (superintendent of police) office in Saraikela and at Sadar hospital, where he was taken for medical test before being taken to jail,” she said.

“During our meeting, Rupesh told me that the police questioned him after his arrest about his links with Prashant Bose saying they have audio and video clips to prove their link. The kind of seizures they made at our home is very strange. They left his laptop after knowing it was bought new but took away my sister’s laptop, which was bought 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 the police could not file even a charge-sheet against him,” she added.

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