Sudarshan News editor arrested over post on Nuh violence granted bail

Gurugram: A Sudarshan News editor who was arrested here for his alleged inflammatory post on social media has been granted bail, and a person who shared his tweet has been sent to judicial custody, officials said on Saturday.

Mukesh Kumar, the resident editor of the TV channel, was arrested on Friday for allegedly posting inflammatory content on social media related to the communal violence in Nuh and adjoining districts in Haryana. He was produced in a duty magistrate court late Friday evening and was granted bail, ACP (Crime) Varun Dahiya said.

The ACP added that the police on Friday night had also arrested Ritu Raj Aggarwal, who is affiliated with a Hindu outfit, for allegedly sharing Kumar’s post on several social media platforms. Aggarwal was produced in a duty magistrate court on Saturday and sent to judicial custody, the ACP said.

Police said that in a post on X, called Twitter till recently, Kumar alleged a foreign media house has been pressurising the Gurugram Police Commissioner to take action against Hindus over the communal riots.

On August 8, Kumar wrote on X, “The @AJENews (Al Jazeera News Channel) has been making calls to the Gurgaon Police Commissioner and pressuring her to take action against Hindus. And after receiving the call, @DC_Gurugram comes under so much pressure she picks up Hindu activists from anywhere.”

In a statement on Friday, the Gurugram Police termed Kumar’s post baseless, false and misleading. They said an FIR was registered under relevant sections of the IT Act and other sections against the journalist at the Cyber Crime, East Police Station.

Sudarshan News has termed Kumar’s arrest an attack on media freedom and had initially alleged he was “abducted” by some goons. Six people have been killed in the communal violence which erupted in Nuh on July 31 after a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession was attacked.