“I was arrested on the orders of [IG] Kalluri,” Bastar Journalist Santosh Yadav

The Chhattisgarh police picked up Bastar-based journalist Santosh Yadav on September 29, 2015, when his youngest daughter was a month old. With tears in his eyes, Yadav says, “My daughter doesn’t even recognise me.” His bail plea was rejected twice by the Jagdalpur Court and Bilaspur High Court. Reportedly, the court denied him bail on the basis of a statement given by a Special Task Force (STF) commander and items seized from him at the time of his arrest, which were – a mobile phone receipt, a mobile phone, a wallet with Rs 220, a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card and a voter identity card. On February 27, 2017, seventeen months after his arrest, Yadav was granted bail by the Supreme Court of India. Yadav spoke to Amit Bhardwaj about the situation in Darbha block and the risk of reporting from the Bastar region, his ordeal in jail, and more. He says, “Both police and Naxals take us for informers, we are under attack from both ends.