Another FIR registered against journalist booked for spreading fake news about police in Noida

On August 24, five journalists were booked under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, and the police arrested four of them for allegedly peddling fake news against police personnel through their web portals.

FIR was registered at the Beta 2 police station on Monday against one of the five journalists who had been booked by the Noida police last week for allegedly defaming the police and spreading fake news.

FIR was registered at the Beta 2 police station on Monday against one of the five journalists who had been booked by the Noida police last week for allegedly defaming the police and spreading fake news. (HT Photo (Representational image))

On August 24, five journalists—three from Noida, and one each from Ghaziabad and Lucknow —were booked under the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986, and the police arrested four of them for allegedly peddling fake news against police personnel through their web portals. Sushil Pandit, Udit Goel and Raman Thakur are from Gautam Budh Nagar, while Chandan Rai is from Ghaziabad and Nitish Pandey is from Gomti Nagar in Lucknow. According to the police, Raman is on the run and they have announced a reward of ₹25,000 on his arrest.

The police said that Rai had denied the allegations against him; however, after the news of the arrest was circulated, a Ghaziabad-based businessman approached the Beta 2 police on Monday, stating that he had been duped of ₹5 lakh by him.

“I have always had political aspirations. When Rai found out, he contacted me last year and over time became an acquaintance. In January 2019, he assured me a ticket from a renowned political party for the post of a councillor and also promised me a good position in politics, saying that he had several connections,” Hitesh Tyagi, the businessman, said.

Tyagi also said that Rai assured him he would use his position as a media person to garner political support for him. “He then asked me for ₹1.5 lakh as party fund, which I paid. After a few days, he said that there were certain political obstacles and took another ₹2 lakh from me to ‘help me out’. Eventually, he ended up taking a total of ₹5 lakh from me for ‘advancing my political career’,” Tyagi alleged.

He also said that the Rai prompted him to get a weapon as well which would “go well with his political image” and allegedly to help with a license, citing good connections, Rai took another ₹1.25 lakh from him.

“When I started asking him about the developments in the situation, he started making excuses, after which I realised that I had been duped. And when I got to know that he had been arrested, I thought of seeking legal action in the matter,” Tyagi said.

Based on his complaint, a case was registered at the Beta 2 police station under sections 406 and 420 of the IPC.

“He has already been remanded to police custody. He will also be interrogated concerning this case, after which due action will be taken,” Sujeet Upadhyay, station house officer, Beta 2 police station, said.

Rai had also been booked in January 2019 for allegedly duping a Bhojpuri folk singer of ₹5 lakh, regarding which a case had been registered in Sector 20 police station.

The arrested men have been remanded to five days of police custody, while a search is on for the fifth journalist who is still at large.