Mumbai: Times Now Navbharat has been subjected to brazen harassment and intimidation tactics ever since the newsbreak of ‘Operation Sheesh Mahal’, which uncovered the disproportionate expenditure incurred in refurbishing the official residence of Delhi CM. In spite of the rough treatment at the hands of AAP functionaries and Private Security personnel in Delhi in the last few days, while covering the story, the channel has been working relentlessly, interviewing ministers and political authorities and uncovering more details to show the true picture to the public. 

In a bizarre turn of events, on 5 May, 2023, while invited to cover an AAP political program hosted by Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwat Mann in Ludhiana, Times Now Navbharat’s reporter Bhawana Kishore, along with cameraman Mrityunjay and Driver, who had gone from Delhi to cover the event, were taken unawares and arrested by the Ludhiana police on charges of “rash driving and insulting Dalits”.

In what appears to be an orchestrated series of events on May 05, the team was first forcibly denied access on ground to cover the Mohalla Clinic event presided by Kejriwal. While returning from the location at around 4 pm, they were stopped by a group of women in an e-rickshaw which rammed into the car in which Bhawana and the team were traveling. They then forcefully stopped the team, got into a brawl and called the local police. They allegedly claimed that the team abused them with SC/ST remarks. It is incomprehensible as to how people from Delhi in a car would be able to guess the caste of strangers on a street in Ludhiana.

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Amongst multiple rules violated by Punjab Police, Bhawana Kishore, a woman reporter, was illegally detained without the presence of lady police personnel in the car. The male Police who accompanied Kishore was not wearing a name badge, which is a mandatory requirement on duty.  While family members are to be immediately informed of a person’s detention, this rule was also flouted and Kishore’s family was informed only at 10:41 p.m. No lady can be arrested post-sunset. However, not only was Bhawana arrested at 8:55 p.m., she was also kept at the police station through the night until this afternoon. They were also denied any legal or telephone access. 

Kishore has been forced to sign some documents in Gurmukhi, clearly against her will and without the knowledge of the language. 

We believe this is a case of harassment and a signal of intimidation to Times Now Navbharat to stop pursuing an uncomfortable story about the Supreme Leader of the party in power in the State. This is not just blatant misuse of the State Machinery for vendetta but also misuse and disrespect of the SC/ ST Act which is being invoked wrongly and without any basis to intimidate. Times Network is seeking legal recourse and cooperating with the investigating authorities.

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