FIR against reporter over coverage of protest by BJP leader in UP

An FIR was lodged against a reporter of a television channel in connection with his coverage of a sit-in protest by a senior BJP leader and his supporters at the camp office of SP (Kanpur dehat) a few days after the parliamentary polls, said an official.

The Akbarpur police has charged the reporter Vikas Dhiman with defamation.

The FIR was lodged on by Sub-inspector Rajneesh Kumar Verma on 27 June, and an investigation has been launched into the matter.

Talking to PTI over phone, District Police Chief BBGTS Murthy said the news was published with the title "Yogi sarkar ke mantri ke pati aur purva sansad ki nahi sun rahi police" (UP Police is not listening to former MP whose wife is a state minister in the Yogi government), which allegedly maligned the SP's image.

The FIR lodged with the police states that UP Minister Pratibha Shukla's husband Anil Shukla Warsi, a former MP, sat on a dharna at the camp of SP Kanpur dehat after the officer allegedly declined to come out of his office to meet him.

The SP walked out of his room and took the BJP leader inside and had breakfast with tea, the complaint reads.

Dhiman told PTI that he had discharged his official duty as covering the protest was a media responsibility, and not a crime. Police's act to lodge the FIR in connection with the coverage was part of an attempt to "intimidate" the media, he added.