Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai disables Twitter handle citing abuse

Says he has been victim of constant abuse and alleges hacking of account after DMs were sent from his handle

Senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, popular for engaging with trolls on Twitter, decided to disable his account @sardesairajdeep on the microblogging site on Saturday. He cited extensive abuse and personal attacks against him and alleged hacking of his account which led him to take this step.
 
"I have gone on a Twitter detox break. Enough of character assassination and slander for a while with no legal recourse," the consulting editor at the India Today Network told Scroll.
 
Sardesai added that Twitter had been informed about the alleged hacking after Direct Messages (DMs) were sent to people.
 
“There has been a campaign of abuse in last one week and it has been extremely personal, and apparently DMs have been sent from my account which I haven’t sent. So, I have informed Twitter about it. I have temporarily disabled the account till they sort out the issue and tell me what has to be done. If a police complaint has to be filed, it will be filed. Anyways this is a good break,” Sardesai told The Indian Express.
 

 

@shilpitewari @BDUTT @sardesairajdeep I got this DM , I can't reply coz i follow u and u don't follow me. AC hacked? pic.twitter.com/yP7xMTdrC4

— Kaustubh (@kaustubhsumbre) April 29, 2016

His contemporaries have asked him to come back and said that trolls must not be taken seriously.
 

Come back @sardesairajdeep Abuse never killed anyone. Many abusive ones greet you here & there, ask for selfies. Why take them so seriously

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) April 30, 2016

In a similar incident, senior NDTV journalist Ravish Kumar had also announced his decision to quit the microblogging site on the back of online abuse and trolling.