Bihar: Journalist threatened for post on BJP’s 2019 poll plank, FIR filed

A journalist of an Urdu daily has been threatened with death for his post on social media that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek votes in 2019 polls in the name of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a police official said on Friday.

Seemab Akhtar, a journalist of an Urdu daily Farooqui Tanzeem, a publish from Patna, has been reportedly threatened by an unknown man for his post on social media in which he stated that Modi will use name of Vajpayee for votes.

After the demise of Vajpayee, Akhtar posted on social media in Hindi that: "Dekh Lena agle chunao mein Modi Atal ki tasveer Lekar roenge, aur bolenge bhai-behno inke naam pe dedo vote unka sapna pura karna hai... (In the next elections, Modi will carry Atal's picture and shed tears asking for vote to fulfil his—former PM's—dream).

According to Akhtar, he received threat calls and was asked not to post anything against the Bharatiya Janata Party on social media. "I was threatened with death if I continue to write against the BJP,” alleged Akhtar.

The Bajpatti police station officer incharge, Kanchan Bhaskar, said that an FIR had been filed in this connection. "We have started the investigation," he added.

Sanjay Kumar, professor at Motihari Central University in east Champaran district, Bihar, was beaten up by a group of people last Friday for his comments on social media that appeared to criticise former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The seriously injured Kumar was first admitted at Patna hospital and later shifted to AIIMS Delhi for treatment.