Five scribes booked in UP's Bijnor

Police have booked five journalists after they reported that a Dalit family was allegedly prevented from drawing water from a hand pump by some people at Basi village in Uttar Pradesh's Bijnor.

Two of them have been named by police while the other three have not been identified.

The report lodged on September 7 accused Shakeel Ahmed and Ashish Tomar, along with three others, of posing a danger to social harmony, creating caste tensions and danger to national security.

Circle Officer Mahesh Kumar said a widow had complained to police last month that some people thrashed her daughter when she went to draw water from a hand pump at Basi village.

Initially, a compromise was reached between the two groups.

But the woman was again allegedly prevented from collecting water, after which she pasted a poster outside her house, mentioning that it was for sale.

The issue was flagged by the journalists.

However, the district administration assured to take back the cases against the journalists after an action committee of scribes lodged a protest against it.

Senior committee member Jyotilal Sharma said District Magistrate Ramakant Pandey and SP Sanjeev Tyagi assured them of taking back the cases.