Jurno arrested on extortion charges after he clicked school kids mopping floor

Azamgarh district magistrate on Monday ordered a probe into the arrest of a journalist allegedly after he took photographs of some children mopping the floor in their school.

The journalist was arrested on false charges of extortion and obstructing public servants from discharging their duty, alleged a fellow journalist Sudhir Singh, who, along with other journalist District magistrate N P Singh to apprise him of the alleged illegal arrest.

"No injustice will be meted out to the journalist. We will look into the matter," said Azamgarh DM N P Singh.

Singh also ordered a probe into the matter.

Local journalist Santosh Jaiswal was arrested here last week on Friday after he took photographs of school children, mopping the floor and called up police to apprise them of the illegal practice by school authorities," said Sudhir Singh.

Singh said the police, responding to Jaiswal's call reached the school and took both the journalist and Principal Radhey Shyam Yadav of the Oodpur primary school to the police station.

At the Phoolpur police station, the school principal lodged a complaint against Jaiswal on the basis of which an FIR was registered against him and he was arrested, said Singh.

The FIR No 237 registered on September 6, 2019 against the journalist quotes the school principal as saying that Jaiswal often visited the school and misbehaved with both male and female teachers and students and persuaded them to subscribe to the newspaper published by him.

In the FIR, Yadav said on the day of the incident Jaiswal came to the school and ordered some school children to mop the floor to facilitate him take their photographs.

At this, Yadav said, he objected to his act, following which he fled the school premises leaving his vehicle there and later demanded money from him.

Sudhir Singh, who also met the Azamgarh district magistrate along with other journalists to complain against Jaiswal's arrest, refuted the charges against the arrested journalist.