In yet another case of high-handedness of the Uttar Pradesh police, a senior journalist was allegedly threatened to reveal his source of an objectionable video of Noida SSP Vaibhav Krishna that had gone viral. When he refused, the Noida police tried to pick him up for questioning.
Piyush Rai, a senior correspondent of Times of India in Meerut, has lodged a complaint with IG Meerut Zone in which he said that on Thursday when he was about to leave the office of the Meerut SSP with a fellow reporter, he was stopped by members of the Noida police in plain clothes.
“First they asked for the source of the video and then threatened to pick me up. They stepped back only when the fellow reporter indicated to them that they were in a CCTV zone,” said Mr. Rai in the complaint.
He further said that on Thursday morning, Mr. Krishna called him up to know about the video and its source which he refused to share.
Alok Singh, IG Meerut Zone, told The Hindu that an explanation had been sought from Mr. Krishna and the Meerut SSP asked to investigate the sequence of events. “When Piyush told me about the videos, it was I who advised Mr. Krishna and him to talk to each other,” said Mr. Singh. When asked whether Mr. Krishna betrayed his trust, Mr. Singh said that was why his explanation had been sought. As for the veracity of the videos which have created an upheaval in the department, Mr. Singh said the cyber team was looking into it.
Earlier, Prashant Kumar, ADG Meerut Zone, told reporters, “As soon as we got to know, we took action. We have received the complaint and action will be taken against guilty,” he said.
Mr. Krishna could not be reached despite repeated attempts.
