Uttar Pradesh journalist arrested for publishing ‘defamatory’ story against BJP MP

The editor of a local newspaper here was arrested for publishing an allegedly ‘defamatory’ story against BJP MP Atul Garg, police said on Monday.

Garg, the BJP MP from Ghaziabad, had on October 6 lodged a police complaint against Congress leader Dolly Sharma for allegedly defaming him while campaigning for the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year.

The BJP MP alleged that Sharma, who contested against him, “tarnished” his image by calling him a part of the “land mafia”. Imran Khan, the editor of ‘Aap Abhi Tak’, was booked for publishing the ‘defamatory’ news. He was arrested on Saturday.

Sharma had accused Garg of encroaching on 31,000 square metres of government land on which he constructed a housing society. She even claimed to have documents supporting her charge and the same was published by some local newspapers and web portals.

Meanwhile, a group of local journalists submitted to district magistrate Indra Vikram Singh a memorandum addressed to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in which they alleged that police had acted under pressure.