A day after Bengal police forcefully detained and apprehended a Republic TV journalist Santu Pan, who was actively reporting on the Sandeshkhali incident, his wife approached the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC), reported Republic TV.
The complaint copy details how the Mamata Banerjee government is stifling the voices of journalists and the media that has been trying to bring forth accounts of multiple women victimised by TMC leader Shahjahan Sheikh and his aides in Sandeshkhali.
The complaint read, “On the evening of 19 February 2024, my husband and Republic Bangla reporter Santu Pan was arrested with an outright attempt to throttle the media from reporting on the accounts of crimes against women in Sandeshkhali. Republic Bangla’s reporting team has brought forth accounts of multiple women in Sandeshkhali alleging politically institutionalised mass rape, political protection of the perpetrators and an environment of fear instilled into the victims.”
“My husband Santu Pan had conducted a live show from the ground on the Republic Bangla channel, which has consistently been reporting from Sandeshkhali as part of its ongoing investigative reportage on crimes against women in West Bengal. Hours after the live telecast, with outright malafide intent and sheer malice in law, Santu Pan was not allowed to leave Sandeshkhali,” the complaint added.
The complaint further stated that the video footage clearly showed how Santu Pan was surrounded by many law enforcement agents and taken inside an unauthorized detention facility without being given any prior warning.
“Neither me, as his wife nor his legal team, were given any intimation of any notice/FIR/illegal detention. I have only been able to access the Arrest Memo after seeing the horrific visuals of my husband being physically assaulted by the local police and dragged to a police station. Santu Pan’s arrest saw local police encircling him and physically assaulting him, before taking him into illegal custody and arrest. Furthermore, it is established in the LIVE TV footage that Santu Pan continued to exercise his right to report despite being physically assaulted by the local police at the time of arrest,” it further stated.
Notably, on Monday, February 19, Bengal police forcefully detained and apprehended a Republic TV journalist who was actively reporting on the Sandeshkhali incident. “I’m being taken into custody by the police. They’re arresting me for conducting interviews with the mothers of Sandeshkhali,” expressed Santu Pan, a reporter with Republic Bangla, as he was forcefully escorted by the police at the Sandeshkhali ferry terminal.
In the footage, numerous heavily armed police officers were observed shoving and rough-handling the journalist before forcibly removing him.
In response to the arrest, Arnab Goswami, the Managing Director of Republic TV, announced that the company would promptly file a case in the Kolkata High Court challenging the arrest of Santu Pan.
