Journalist and YouTuber Arrested: Land Grabbing Scandal

A journalist and YouTuber were arrested for rioting and causing grievous hurt during a land-grabbing attempt. The court has remanded them for 14 days. Police reports implicated 40-50 unnamed journalists. Another FIR linked media professionals to extortion and criminal intimidation against a truck owner.

A journalist and a YouTuber were arrested on Monday, accused of rioting and causing grievous hurt in a bid to seize property, according to police reports.

TV journalist Neeraj Awasthi, a former vice-president of the Kanpur press club, and Muntazir Ansari were brought before a local court, which ordered their judicial custody for 14 days. An FIR filed by Rabia Begum also listed “40-50 unnamed journalists” involved in the case.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Ravindra Kumar stated that Begum accused Awasthi, Ansari, Pradeep Srivastava, and the unnamed journalists of attempting to capture her land in Saket Nagar, valued at several crores. Neeraj, who is the younger brother of senior Congress leader Vikas Awasthi, faced additional charges, including rioting with weapons.

The complaint also detailed that the journalists had allegedly kidnapped Rabia's son twice, beating him severely. As a result, she and her son were forced to relocate to Farrukhabad district for a year.

In a separate incident, truck owner Gaurav Singh filed an FIR at Barra police station against press club office bearer Divas Pandey and YouTubers Satyam Goswami, Abhishek Sharma alias Yuva, and Yogesh Dixit on charges of extortion, wrongful restraint, criminal intimidation, and causing grievous hurt. Singh claimed harassment related to his cattle transport business.

The police are currently working to apprehend those named in the FIR, the DCP confirmed.