Patiala journalist arrested in rape case

The district police have arrested radio and social media commentator Baltej Pannu in a rape case lodged by a social activist.

The activist, who runs a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for differently abled children, has accused Pannu of sexual exploiting her by making false promises. She also alleged that Pannu threatened to malign her image if she failed to do his bidding.

On the basis of the complaint, the police registered an FIR under sections 376 (rape) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and arrested Pannu after raiding his house.

Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Gurmeet Singh Chauhan stated that prima facie it was a case of sexual exploitation. The SSP said the police had asked Pannu to join the investigation, but since he didn’t do so, he was arrested.

Pannu, a vocal critic of the Akali-BJP government, had recently posted on social media that he was threatened by an Akali minister’s gunman for his anti-government comments.

First Published: Nov 27, 2015 21:40 IST