R-Day violence: FIR filed against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, Rajdeep Sardesai and five others

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NEW DELHI: Noida Police has filed an FIR against Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and six journalists— senior anchor Rajdeep Sardesai; group editor of National Herald, Mrinal Pandey; chief editor of Quami Awaz, Zafar Agha and editors of The Caravan magazine Paresh Nath, Anant Nath and Vinod K Jose on sedition charges regarding the farmers’ protest on Republic Day.

The FIR against the individuals was registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for provoking the already hostile situation in the national capital, media reports stated.

According to reports, a complainant Arpit Mishra (35-year-old) from Noida, accused them of disseminating ‘provocative’ news on the death of a protestor by alleging the police of shooting him on the head when he actually died in a tractor accident.

“The complaint is being examined and action as per the law is being taken," Noida Police said.

“As part of a conspiracy, the accused planned riots in the national capital with (an) intention to kill public servants and incite violence…. It is known fact that despite provocative activities by rowdy elements and injuries to police personnel, the police force acted with restraint and control the violators with professional efficiency,” the FIR mentioned.

Sardesai, India Today's consulting editor, had on January 26 tweeted that a farmer Navneet Singh was allegedly killed in police firing during the tractor rally. However, police said that the farmer died after his tractor overturned.

“The accused in a well-planned manner conspired with each other to spread the wrong information about the death of a farmer in police firing. It was intentionally done to incite riots at a large scale and create tension among communities. The riots and tension certainly affect countries along the international border…because of their tweets protestors reached Red Fort and installed their religious and other flags where the national flag was hoisted,” the FIR further stated.

(Edited by Gabriel G Momin)