Police in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district are at the centre of a row after arresting a local journalist for allegedly interfering in a government function where a state minister was present. Sanjay Rana, who works for local newspaper 'Moradabad Ujala Newspaper' and its Youtube channel, has claimed innocence and said he was asking the minister about lack of development in the area. Arrested on Sunday, based on a complaint by BJYM district general secretary Shubham Raghav, Rana was released on Monday evening. According to the FIR, registered at Chandausi police station in the district on Raghav's complaint, Rana allegedly assaulted him and also interfered in government work during a programme on Saturday attended by MoS (Independent charge) for Secondary Education Gulab Devi at Buddh Nagar Khandwa village. Chandausi SHO Satendra Pawar said: “The journalist was arrested and released later. An FIR has been registered against him on the complaint of a BJP leader, who alleged being assaulted, harassed and intimidated by the journalist. We are investigating.” A video that emerged online shows Rana asking questions related to lack of implementation of promises Gulab Devi had made before the polls. It shows many villagers supporting Rana and complaining about the status of development work. The clip shows Gulab Devi assuring people that work is in progress and will be completed. The Indian Express reached out to Gulab Devi and Sambhal SP Chakresh Mishra but did not receive a response. In the FIR, Raghav alleged, “.A fake journalist named Sanjay Rana, of Moradabad Ujala YouTube channel, interfered in government work. I asked him not to do this, but he did not listen. He started abusing me and assaulted me. He threatened me while leaving.” The FIR invoked IPC Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace). Police arrested Rana under CrPC Section 151, which is used to prevent commission of cognizable offences. In a recorded video, Rana denied the allegations, saying he was only asking questions on “genuine problems faced by villagers”. Dharmendra Chaudhary, editor of the newspaper and YouTube channel, said police humiliated Rana by handcuffing him in public. "The minister had claimed work amounting to Rs 75 lakh was done in the village. Our reporter found the claims misleading and, during the programme, asked simple questions about what he found during his reporting,” he said. Chaudhary said Rana began working for the newspaper about a month ago. He said Moradabad Ujala, a Hindi daily, has been in operation since 2012 and has reporters across UP. Rana's father Raghunath Singh said he was not home when police picked up his son. “He (Rana) asked basic questions about the development of the village. Let alone a journalist, everyone has the right to do this,” he said.
