Rajiv Sharma, through a series of reports, has exposed cattle smuggling scams.
Assam:
Assam Dhubri police chief Yuvraj was transferred after local police were criticized for arresting a journalist on Thursday who allegedly resulted in the death of his father due to cardiac arrest.
Rajiv Sharma, who is the general secretary of the Dhubri Press Club and regional correspondent of a news channel in the vernacular, was arrested in connection with an extortion case around 2 am from his residence, where he lived with her 64-year-old father, Sudhin Sharma.
Rajiv Sharma, through a series of reports, has exposed cattle smuggling scams.
Sudhin Sharma suffered a cardiac arrest after the arrest. Without help, he died alone in his residence.
Journalist Rajiv Sharma was released on bail that morning. He found his father dead when he returned home.
He performed his father’s funeral at the Gauripur cremation site in the presence of several journalists and relatives on Thursday evening.
Yuvraj, by official notification from the state’s internal affairs department, was transferred after the police were severely criticized for the treatment of the accused.
The Guwahati Press Club, for its part, described the incident as unfortunate and requested intervention by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.
“We want the CM to intervene and ensure that Mr. Sharma is not harassed in the name of the investigation,” president Manoj Kumar Nath and press club secretary Sanjay Ray said in a statement.
Dhubri Divisional Forestry Officer (DFO), Biswajit Roy, alleged that Mr. Sharma had attempted to extort 8 lakh Rs from him based on fabricated news regarding his involvement in a contraband cattle union.
Assam police handed the file over to the state Department of Criminal Investigation.
