Scribe arrested from Sandeshkhali remanded to 3-day police custody

Kolkata:  A district court in West Bengal on Tuesday remanded Santu Pan, a reporter working with the news channel Republic Bangla who was arrested by the police on Monday while reporting from the trouble-ridden Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district, to three-day police custody.

Although the Basirhat SP had claimed on Monday that Pan was held while reporting from Sandeshkhali on Monday evening following a complaint of trespassing filed against him and his cameraman by a local woman, questions are being raised as to why he was arrested from the ground without being served any notice.

However, ADG (South Bengal) Supratim Sarkar said that a 'secret' statement was submitted by the complainant to the Magistrate under Section 165 of the CrPC, and the police arrested Pan after ensuring that the accused person was the same journalist referred to by the woman.

Meanwhile, the scribe's arrest has triggered all-round protests in West Bengal. Even the local women of Sandeshkhali, who have been protesting for quite some time now accusing a section of the local Trinamool Congress leaders of sexually harassing them, have condemned the arrest of the journalist.

The leader of opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has blackened the profile picture on his official X handle as a symbolic protest against the arrest.

“Pan was arrested since he was responsible for revealing the instances of harassment of women at Sandeshkhali from the spot,” Adhikari said.