On May 9, Times Now Navbharat reporter Bhawana Kishore, who was arrested by Punjab Police for allegedly being involved in an accident and using casteist slurs after an accident, talked about her ordeal during the time she was in custody. She told Group Editor Navika Kumar and anchor Sushant B Sinha that she was forced by the police to use the toilet with its door open.
On the day of the arrest, the police told her that her medical was scheduled for 1 AM, and after that, she would be presented in front of the magistrate. She said, “I was not feeling well, so I ate the food [they gave]. The driver and cameraperson also ate a little. I was having a lot of water as I was feeling nervous. When I went to the washroom, 2-3 female constables accompanied me. There was no electricity or water at the police station [I was kept in].”
#SheeshMahalKaBadla: 'मेरी सेहत बिगड़ रही थी, वो मुझे वॉशरूम लेकर गए और कहा गया कि आप वॉशरूम का दरवाजा बंद नहीं कर सकती'- रिपोर्टर भावना किशोर@navikakumar @SushantBSinha @BhawanaKishore#NewsKiPathshala #OperationSheeshMahal #SachJeetaSirJiHare pic.twitter.com/vUJQFHcXx6
— Times Now Navbharat (@TNNavbharat) May 9, 2023
Bhawana broke down on camera while describing her humiliation during the custody. “I still used the washroom while the door was open. I was under so much mental pressure that I felt no shame,” she said.
Later that night, senior police officials came to meet her. She said, “I folded my hands before them and told them I did not do anything wrong. Please let me go. You can check the CCTV footage. My cameraperson and driver are also innocent. They told me they knew I did nothing wrong and asked me to cooperate.”
Bhawana further told Navika that the washroom she was allowed to use at the hospital where she went for the medical had blood-soaked clothes. “I felt like I would vomit. I saw dead bodies in the hospital late at night. If I think about it, I again feel the same.”
#SheeshMahalKaBadla: 'मुझे बोला गया कि फ्रेश हो जाओ लेकिन वॉशरूम का गेट बंद मत करना'- रिपोर्टर भावना किशोर@navikakumar @SushantBSinha @BhawanaKishore #NewsKiPathshala #OperationSheeshMahal #SachJeetaSirJiHare pic.twitter.com/agYHBVuJa0
— Times Now Navbharat (@TNNavbharat) May 9, 2023
She said there were female constables around her. They allowed her to use the washroom to take a bath, but she could not lock the doors on one condition. She said, “I felt awkward that the door was open and they [female constables] might be looking. I feared that a CCTV was recording me while I was using the washroom.”
Bhawana Kishore arrest
The Punjab police May 5 arrested Times Now Navbharat journalist Bhawana Kishore in a rash driving case. The police arrested her and two other crew members Mrityunjay Kumar and Parminder Singh. The police invoked provisions of the stringent SC/ST Act along with various sections of the IPC against the scribes.
According to the police, the arrest was made after a woman was injured on her right hand when the car they were travelling in collided with her. According to the authorities, the trio was also charged with abusing the victim with casteist slurs. The police registered a case against the scribes under Sections 279, 337 and 427 of the IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the SC and ST Act.
Following the arrest, Times Now alleged that their reporter has been falsely implicated in an SC-ST case by the Ludhiana police. The channel also said that she was not driving the vehicle and is not responsible for the accident. Bhawana was arrested while she was on her way to report the inauguration of Mohalla Clinics by AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The channel, hinting at an alleged witchhunt launched against them by the Aam Aadmi Party after their recent “Operation Sheesh Mahal” expose against their supremo Arvind Kejriwal, said that Bhawana was taken away in a car by a male cop before a flimsy FIR was filed against her in Ludhiana’s Section 3 Division Police Station. It was also noted that the said cop was not wearing a nameplate displaying his name while taking Bhavana.
She was granted bail. On May 9, during the hearing of the case, Judge Deepak Sibbal rescued himself from the case and sent it to the CJI. A new bench will be appointed to hear the matter.
