Chhattisgarh

12 results arranged by date

Indian authorities arrest journalist Nilesh Sharma, re-arrest Fahad Shah

New Delhi, March 9, 2022 – Authorities in Chhattisgarh state and the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir region must immediately release journalists Nilesh Sharma and Fahad Shah and drop all investigations launched based on their journalistic work, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On March 2, police in Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur arrested Sharma, editor of…

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Authorities in India continue to investigate, detain journalists amid COVID-19 pandemic

Local authorities across India filed legal notices against, questioned, or detained at least eight journalists between March 29, 2020, and May 17, 2020, amid the country’s lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus, according to CPJ interviews with the journalists and media reports. According to Om Sharma, a journalist with Hindi daily Divya Himachal in…

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Freelance journalist Santosh Yadav, left, with human rights defender Shalini Gera and CPJ India Correspondent Kunal Majumder, during a convention on journalist safety in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, in February 2019. A court on January 2 acquitted Yadav of several charges, ending a four-year legal battle. (CPJ)

‘I feel like a weight has been lifted’ freelance journalist Santosh Yadav says as Chhattisgarh court ends four-year legal nightmare

On January 2, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav got his life back when the National Investigation Agency court in Jagdalpur acquitted him of charges of helping Maoists militants. The ruling marked the end of a legal nightmare that lasted over four years for Yadav, who says that he was threatened and beaten in custody, before being…

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Voters line up at a polling station in Sukma in Chhattisgarh state on November 12, 2018. The state's newly elected state minister is setting up a committee to draft a journalist safety law. (AFP)

Chhattisgarh’s plan for journalist safety law could be template for all India

Every day for two years, freelance journalist Santosh Yadav must walk the 50 or so yards from his home to the Darbha village police station in Bastar, Chhattisgarh, to sign a register. Just one missed day could immediately land him back in prison as he awaits trial on anti-terror charges. A police commander said that…

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Doordarshan video journalist Achyutananda Sahu, pictured, was killed when Maoist rebels ambushed the police he was embedded with. (Doordarshan)

Video journalist killed in Maoist rebel attack in Chhattisgarh

New Delhi, October 30, 2018–The Committee to Protect Journalists called on authorities in Chhattisgarh to ensure the safety of media covering elections after a journalist embedded with police was killed in an ambush. Video journalist Achyutananda Sahu, who worked for the government-run broadcaster Doordarshan, was killed in Chhattisgarh today during a firefight between police and…

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Venus symbols are seen during an event where UN Women and rights groups launched a campaign against violence towards women as International Women's Day approaches, in Mexico City, Mexico in March 2018. CPJ has documented threats faced by women journalists across the globe. (Reuters/Henry Romero)

On International Women’s Day, CPJ looks at threats women journalists face

From imprisonment, sexual violence, cyber harassment, and even death, CPJ has documented threats faced by women journalists across the globe.

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People ride past the India Gate in New Delhi, India September 1, 2017. Chhattisgarh regional police said they searched Vinod Verma's New Delhi home and allegedly found over 500 CD copies of a sex tape Verma used to extort and blackmail a government minister. (Reuters/Adnan Abidi)

Indian police arrest journalist on charges of alleged extortion and blackmail

Indian regional police arrested freelance journalist Vinod Verma on October 27, 2017, on claims that he used a sex tape to extort and blackmail a minister from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Chhattisgarh region– claims the journalist denies, according to news reports.

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Journalist arrested in restive Chhattisgarh state in India

On September 29, 2015, police in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh arrested a journalist on what his colleagues said were fabricated charges in connection with his reporting on human rights abuses by local authorities, according to news reports.

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Indian journalist murdered in Chhattisgarh state

New York, December 10, 2013–Indian authorities must conduct a swift and efficient investigation into the murder of a veteran journalist on Friday, and ensure the perpetrators are held responsible, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Indian journalist Lingaram Kodopi released on bail

New York, November 14, 2013–The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release on bail today of Lingaram Kodopi, an Indian journalist who has been imprisoned for more than two years, and calls on authorities to drop all charges against him.

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