Independent Chennai journalist Sandhya Ravishankar threatened, harassed

Chennai-based independent journalist Sandhya Ravishankar has lodged a sixth complaint with the police, alleging intimidation by unidentified persons. Ravishankar also posted on Twitter visuals captured on her CCTV camera showing two men approaching her residence, late on Wednesday, September 26. The next day, she found the petrol tube of her two wheeler had been cut.

This is not the first instance of harassment Ravishankar has faced; there have been multiple cases of stalking, intimdation and privacy violation after her four-part expose on the sand mafia last year.

After the latest instance, on Friday, September 28 morning, Ravishankar took to Twitter to say that on the previous day, she had found that the petrol tube of her two wheeler was cut. While she initially suspected that it was a simple case of petrol theft, she found that her fuel tank will still full. Suspicious, she checked the CCTV camera that was installed at her house, overlooking the parked vehicles. A second clip tweeted by Ravishankar shows the men again coming back and the man with the helmet alighting from his bike and coming near the wall of the house. The guys then speed away after 20 seconds.

Ravishankar also attached a picture of the complaint she filed with the Kumaran Nagar police station detailing out the incidents seen in the CCTV footage and mentioned that the police had since increased patrolling in her street.

After her complaint, two police officers were stationed outside her house on Friday, September 28 night.

Ravishankar said, “CCTV visuals of my meeting with a DGP at a cafe two years ago have now reached the hands of blogger A Shankar, who put it out on his blog, Savukku. I came to know about the CCTV footage having been leaked to a blogger only a couple of weeks ago. When I went to the cafe on Chamiers Road to check with them about this matter, they said they had given the footage only to the police. So, how was it then leaked?”

A Shankar was earlier with the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) and he was suspended by the DVAC. After which, he began the blog ‘Savukku’, or whip in Tamil, writing several articles on the alleged corruption in the state government.

Ravishankar said Shankar has been alleging that she has taken money from all political parties including DMK, AIADMK and Sasikala’s nephew TTV Dinakaran. “This is the same thing the miners have been alleging too. How is it that he is saying the same thing?” asked Sandhya.

Condemning the harassment and intimidation tactics meted out against Sandhya Ravishankar, several editors, journalists, journalist’s associations and human rights groups have come out in support of her. They have also urged the state government and the police to take action on the complaint filed by Ravishankar.