A Bastar journalist who is lodged in jail for alleged Maoist links has alleged threat to his life. Santosh Yadav, a journalist from Darbha area of the restive Bastar region in Chhattisgarh, was arrested in November last year and booked under the draconian Chhattisgarh Public Security Act.
Currently in Jagdalpur central jail, Mr. Yadav conveyed his message through his father who met him in the jail on Tuesday.
“I went to meet Santosh today. He told me that some people were about to attack him last night but did not do so because of the presence of a security guard outside the barrack. He said a person named Vicky was planning to attack him. He expressed apprehensions that he might be killed inside the jail. He is extremely scared. He asked me to convey this massage to Kamal Shukla (the senior journalist who launched a campaign for the release of Mr. Yadav and other journalists from jail),” Budhram Yadav, father of Santosh, told The Hindu .
Mr. Yadav was among the four journalists from Bastar region who were “implicated” in various cases by the police in the last one year and lodged in jail, triggering protests by journalists across the State. One journalist was acquitted of all the charges by a court four days ago and two journalists from Dantewada were released on bail last month.
“The situation inside the jail is extremely worrisome and pathetic. Santosh Yadav has been victimised like us for writing fearlessly. Some senior police officers may be behind this threat to him as he was victimised for writing against these police officers,” alleged Prabhat Singh, one of the journalists who was released on bail last month.
Jagdalpur jail Superintendent Amit Shandilya, however, said that he was “unaware” of Mr. Yadav’s claims regarding threat to his life.
