3 Ballia journalists held in paper leak case granted bail

More than three weeks after they were arrested in connection with the class 12 paper leak case, three journalists from Ballia have been granted bail, Navbharat Times reported.

Ajit Ojha and Digvijay Singh of Amar Ujala and Manoj Gupta of Rashtriya Sahara are likely to be released, and certain sections against them have been removed, as per the report.

The journalists were among over 50 people arrested for their alleged involvement in the UP class 12 board exam leak. The journalists had claimed that they were "framed for reporting on the paper leak”.

On April 12, a lower court in Ballia had rejected their bail pleas.

Protests were earlier held against the arrests by local journalists. Local businessmen, students’ unions and journalists’ unions had also called for a “district bandh” on April 16.

Various journalist bodies had also called for the immediate release of the journalists and a judicial enquiry in the matter. The arrests were condemned by the Press Club of India, which said the state government was "going hammer and tongs to threaten and actually arrest those mediapersons who don't toe the line of government thinking".

On April 6, the Press Club of India and Digipub News India Foundation also held a meeting where, among other issues, they spotlighted the Ballia arrests while describing how journalists were being targeted.