Tripura journo arrested on charges of criminal intimidation, attempt to murder
He was produced before a local court in Agartala, where he was charged with criminal intimidation, attempt to murder and wrong restraint
An independent online journalist from Tripura was on Friday arrested by the Tripura police from West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on the charges of criminal intimidation, attempt to murder and wrongful restraint, officials familiar with the matter said.
Saikat Talapatra, the independent journalist of a Tripura-based news portal, was arrested from Sodepur in Bengal, said police.
He was produced before a local court in Agartala, where he was charged with criminal intimidation, attempt to murder and wrong restraint.
“Police arrested him under a non-bailable warrant. A case was lodged against him under Sections 341( wrongful restraint), 307 (attempt to murder), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act by the West Agartala police in 2020,” said assistant inspector general (law and order) Jyotisman Daschoudhury.
“He was arrested against a warrant issued on April 25 last year. He was forwarded to court. The verdict of the court is yet to be announced,” assistant public prosecutor Indrajit Biswas said.
Saikat was given a lawyer from the state legal aid service as he didn’t get any legal counsel to represent him.
A senior counsel said that Saikat got a pre-arrest bail on 8 November 2021 from the district and sessions court but didn’t cooperate with the investigation process and flew to another state.
“The investigating officer appeared before the court to cancel his pre-arrest bail. After hearing, the court cancelled his bail,” said the counsel.
