Editors Guild seeks release of Agra journalist, probe into ‘police torture’

In a statement released today, the Editors Guild of India demanded that Agra-based journalist Gaurav Bansal be “treated fairly” by the state administration and released immediately.

According to a report in the Indian Express, police said that Bansal, 39, was arrested on March 15 after he reached a counting center in Agra on March 8 and alleged that EVMs were being replaced, amid polling for the UP assembly. The journalist was also accused of misbehaving with policemen.

His lawyer, however, has accused the police of torturing him in custody, and alleged that “he was given third degree torture and humiliated by police officers”.

In the statement, the Editors Guild of India said that it is “deeply concerned that penal laws are ever so often used as tools to harass and intimidate journalists from freely reporting on sensitive issues”.

The association further demanded that an independent court-monitored inquiry be carried out to investigate the charges of torture, and the state government should ensure that the rights of media are protected and that journalists are not harassed for doing their job freely.