Doordarshan journalist Ashok Shrivastav has written to the Ghaziabad SSP alleging that Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader OP Rajbhar’s son has threatened him for questioning why a reporter was “beaten up” – during a joint conference by SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and RLD chief Jayant Chaudhary – in Ghaziabad last week, according to Dainik Bhaskar.

The SBSP, previously an alliance partner of the NDA, has tied up with the SP for the 2022 UP election.

Shrivastav alleged that Hindi Khabar journalist Khalid Chaudhar was beaten up by Yadav’s bodyguards when he tried to interview the SP leader at the event in Ghaziabad on January 29. In his complaint to the SSP, he alleged that after his tweet on the incident, Arun Rajbhar used derogatory terms against him and said that journalists like him should also be beaten up. He said the threat should be taken seriously as Rajbhar is connected to criminals such as Mukhtar Ansari.

In his complaint, Shrivastav claimed that he is a resident of Ghaziabad and was kidnapped by three gunmen from Kaushambi ahead of the 2012 UP election and released after six hours. “This matter is still unresolved. That's why I am also concerned about my safety and my family’s.”

However, inspector Sachin Malik of Kaushambi police station said he has never received the journalist’s complaint and that it is possible that senior officials may be looking into the matter.

Shrivastav is not new to controversy. Last year, actor Richa Chadha had called him misogynistic and asked why DD had hired him, after the journalist raised questions about a public campaign featuring the actor as a brand ambassador. “At a time when everyone is doing literally all they can to help, he simply cannot help but out himself as a pervert.”

The DD journalist previously authored the book Narendra Modi Censored in which he alleged that officials within the public broadcaster had a bias against the BJP leader.