A case was registered against Quint journalist Poonam Aggarwal after the Army submitted an application to the Nashik police complaining against the journalist for illegally entering a prohibited area. . The Army also accused Aggarwal of posing ‘leading questions’ to Mathew while carrying out the sting operation. The Army asked the police to treat the application as its complaint
The Nashik police on Monday booked Quint journalist Poonam Aggarwal under sections of the Official Secrets Act and those relating to criminal trespass and abetment to suicide under the Indian Penal Code for her role in the alleged suicide of army jawan Lance Naik Roy Matthew.
As per a report by The Indian Express, a case was registered against Aggarwal after the Army submitted an application to the Nashik police complaining against the journalist for illegally entering a prohibited area. . The Army also accused Aggarwal of posing ‘leading questions’ to Mathew while carrying out the sting operation. The Army asked the police to treat the application as its complaint.
Matthew was found hanging following a release of a sting video on the news website The Quint, in which he had spoken on the ‘sahayak’ system in the Indian Army. Police recovered a diary from the abandoned barrack where his body was found. A note in Malayalam described the circumstances that made him take his life. In the note, Mathew feared he would have to face a court-martial for allegedly speaking out against the Army. Police are awaiting the forensic report to confirm whether the note was written by Mathew.
The report also said that the police spoke to Aggarwal and recorded her statement. As per the report, she had shared details, including those of contacts who helped her enter the Deolali cantonment where the sting video was shot. Police have collected the original video footage from the journalist — the website had removed the video and the report.
Aggarwal, while speaking to The Indian Express, said, “After my story was published online, I had shared the link with the Army. At that time, they did not raise any question about me entering a prohibited area. Instead, they told me they will probe the allegations made by the jawan in the sting operation. The allegation of trespass seems to be an afterthought.” She claimed that Mathew committed suicide because of an internal inquiry carried by the Army. An email and text messages to The Quint remained unanswered.
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