Kannada journo arrested for reporting that police insulted the Quran

Vartha Bharati, a 14-year-old Kannada language newspaper’s  reporter Imthiyaz Thumbay has been reported arrested by Bantwal Police on September 7. Vartha Bharati had reported about a police raid conducted on the house of a murder accused in Bantwal. The family members of the accused had alleged that police had insulted the Quran during the raid which was carried in the paper.

However, a clarification, issued by SP Dakshina Kannada Sudhir Kumar Reddy on the matter was also carried prominently by the paper. But the SP ordered the filing of an FIR against the chief editor and reporter of Vartha Bharati under sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and 505 (2) (Statements conducing to public mischief). On Thursday evening when Imthiyaz was on duty, the police took him to the station without any notice. After almost six hours at the police station he will be produced before court today.

This isn’t the first time the Kannada daily has had problems. In June this year, the paper’s Facebook page was blocked from sharing content on the grounds of violating the social media network’s policies. Abdussalam Puthige, editor-in-chief of Vartha Bharati, said the restrictions were nothing short of censorship.