One of the two editors sentenced by the Karnataka Assembly to one year in jail last month, for writing allegedly defamatory articles against ruling lawmakers including speaker KB Koliwad, has a claimed that one of the MLAs has been intimidating him for years through his henchmen.

Anil Raj, editor of tabloid Yelahanka Voice is accused of writing defamatory articles against a BJP MLA. The other editor Ravi Belagere, of Hi Bangalore is accused of publishing defamatory stories against three Congress MLAs.

Raj and Belagere were sentenced to one year behind bars by the Legislative Assembly on June 21. While both managed to evade arrest–Raj by going into hiding and Belagere by admitting himself into a hospital–their arrest was put on hold within a week of it being ordered after they filed a review petition before the Speaker of the Assembly. Now, the Assembly will discuss their case when the winter session begins later this year.

Speaking with 101Reporters over the phone, Raj alleged that the goons of the BJP MLA from Yelahanka (in Bangalore), SR Vishwanath, have been threatening him for years. He said this was not the first time the MLA had accused him of defamation as he has been unearthing Vishwanath’s supposed corrupt practices since 2013. The editor claimed that that was why Vishwanath had been trying to get rid of him. He said he had even filed FIRs against the MLA in the past. “Previously, I had carried a story about a history-sheeter [a person with a criminal record] and his involvement with SR Vishwanath. His goons stood outside my house for a week, making it difficult for me to step out,” Raj said.

He claimed that a few men posing as police officers barged into his house around 10 days ago and made away with all the documents and evidence he had against Vishwanath. However, he has not reported this to the police as he is wary of inviting more trouble. He planned to ask his lawyers about how to proceed from here on.

The articles, the reasons for which Vishwanath had approached the Assembly’s House Privileges Committee, in the first place, pertain to an incident that had taken place this February in Yelahanka. Raj said that some unidentified men had shot at Dasanapura Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees’ President Kadabagere Srinivas.

“In his statement to the police, he said the attack had been orchestrated by Vishwanath’s goons on his orders. All newspapers, channels reported it. So did I,” he said. When asked why he was singled out for defamation, he said, “Because I was the only one who carried regular follow-ups.”

Raj told us he was being punished because he had dared to expose the politicians’ corrupt practices. He said that especially in view of the upcoming elections, the politicians’ were possibly keen on making all bad publicity about them go away.

We reached out to Vishwanath, who simply had this to say–“Anil Raj himself is a blackmailer. There is no question of me blackmailing him. He’s been doing such (defamatory) stories for the past years. I would not like to comment more on this since there is a defamation case pending in the court and also the privilege committee is looking into it,”

We also tried to reach out to Belagere. Unlike Raj, he is a fairly well known name in Karnataka’s media circles. However, most of the journalists in Bangalore we spoke to were reluctant to talk about him given the dubious reputation surrounding his publication and his persona.

Previously, Newslaundry had reported on the reputation Belagere and his weekly tabloid Hai Bangalore enjoyed. His spat with a senior journalist over credit for breaking a news story (the story was made into a Kannada film in 2012) had played out on Kannada news channels and became a public feud that saw much mud-slinging. His rival media house’s channel had even run a ticker, asking victims of Belagere’s harassment to contact them with their story.

While many journalists in Bangalore shied away from talking about Belagere, the Press Club of Bangalore has come out in open against the Karnataka Assembly’s decision. Its general secretary, Kiran HB said it was not about Belagere but about the entire journalist fraternity. He said any hindrance to the freedom of speech was not acceptable and the Press Club would always support all the journalists if they faced such a predicament.

Associate editor of the Deccan Herald Subrahmanya K said he wasn’t of the opinion that Belagere’s article was defamatory. Hinting at self-regulation, he said the Hai Bangalore editor shouldn’t be punished. City editor of The New Indian Express, Bangalore, Ramu Patil, said while he doesn’t know Belagere personally, he believes that it’s the court that should decide if an article is defamatory.

Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrectly stated that the articles written were against Congress MLAs. It was Congress and BJP MLAs.