Editor's Pick: Raipur police stranded as U.P. team whisks away TV anchor

On Tuesday, Raipur Police team was left stranded by Uttar Pradesh police when they reached Ghaziabad to arrest television news anchor Rohit Ranjan for the telecast of allegedly misleading video on a statement by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. UP Police had already taken Mr. Ranjan along with them for questioning in connection with a first information report (FIR) lodged in Gautam Buddha Nagar on the same misleading video by Zee News. Till late evening, Mr. Ranjan was being interrogated by the Gautam Buddha Nagar police and had not been produced in court. The Chhattisgarh Police said they would seek legal remedies to secure his custody. The incident led to a political row with the Congress charging the Uttar Pradesh government with deliberate interference in an ongoing investigation to shield an accused. It charged that this was the second time, after the Delhi and Punjab Police were caught in a stalemate over the arrest of BJP leader Tajinder Bagga, that a police force reporting to a BJP government has obstructed the arrest of an accused by the police of a non-BJP-ruled State. Police sources said Mr. Ranjan was first taken to the Sector 20 police station of Noida, and from there he was taken to an undisclosed location. Udayan Dehar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Raipur, said it was not right to take away an accused against whom non-bailable warrants had been issued for questioning, and that the Chhattisgarh Police would approach the court. Ranvijay Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida told The Hindu that Mr. Ranjan had been detained in connection with an FIR lodged on Tuesday morning against two producers by the Zee management under Section 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between different classes). He confirmed it was for the same alleged doctored video for which the Chhattisgarh Police were seeking Mr. Ranjan’s custody. Mr. Singh said that after the interrogation, it would be decided whether he needed to be arrested and presented in court. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the U.P. Police had “deliberately interfered” with an ongoing investigation to “shield an accused”. Describing it as an act of wilful contempt of the court’s warrant by the U.P. Police and their political masters, Mr. Ramesh said this was also the second time this was happening - the BJP deploying the police force to shield repeat offenders from legitimate investigation. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu’s Editorials Convenient lies: On sharing of fake news through social media A matter of import: On spectre of wider trade and current account deficits The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Who coined the acronym BRIC in 2001 to categorise Brazil, Russia, India and China? Jim O’Neill Carmen Reinhart Paul Krugman Thomas Piketty To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 06 JULY 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Raipur police stranded as U.P. team whisks away TV anchor On Tuesday, Raipur Police team was left stranded by Uttar Pradesh police when they reached Ghaziabad[to arrest television news anchor Rohit Ranjan]( for the telecast of allegedly misleading video on a statement by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. UP Police had already taken Mr. Ranjan along with them for questioning in connection with a first information report (FIR) lodged in Gautam Buddha Nagar on the same misleading video by Zee News. Till late evening, Mr. Ranjan was being interrogated by the Gautam Buddha Nagar police and had not been produced in court. The Chhattisgarh Police said they would seek legal remedies to secure his custody. The incident led to a political row with the Congress charging the Uttar Pradesh government with deliberate interference in an ongoing investigation to shield an accused. It charged that this was the second time, after the Delhi and Punjab Police were caught in a stalemate over the arrest of BJP leader Tajinder Bagga, that a police force reporting to a BJP government has obstructed the arrest of an accused by the police of a non-BJP-ruled State. Police sources said Mr. Ranjan was first taken to the Sector 20 police station of Noida, and from there he was taken to an undisclosed location. Udayan Dehar, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Raipur, said it was not right to take away an accused against whom non-bailable warrants had been issued for questioning, and that the Chhattisgarh Police would approach the court. Ranvijay Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Noida told The Hindu that Mr. Ranjan had been detained in connection with an FIR lodged on Tuesday morning against two producers by the Zee management under Section 505 (2) (statements creating or promoting enmity between different classes). He confirmed it was for the same alleged doctored video for which the Chhattisgarh Police were seeking Mr. Ranjan’s custody. Mr. Singh said that after the interrogation, it would be decided whether he needed to be arrested and presented in court. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the U.P. Police had “deliberately interfered” with an ongoing investigation to “shield an accused”. Describing it as an act of wilful contempt of the court’s warrant by the U.P. Police and their political masters, Mr. Ramesh said this was also the second time this was happening - the BJP deploying the police force to shield repeat offenders from legitimate investigation. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? 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