A day after acquiring permission from a court, police Thursday took Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra into custody in connection with a case lodged against him in Puri district, a senior officer said.
Officers of the Konark police station in Puri district took Mitra into custody from Special Jail in Jharpada here where he was lodged after his arrest on Tuesday night, to interrogate him, the officer said.
Mitra was taken to Konark for interrogation, he said.
He had posted a video on his Twitter handle where he "criticised Odisha, its people, Lord Jagannath, Konark temple and also Odisha lawmakers".
One Bimbadhar Goura of Konark area had lodged a complaint against Mitra at the Konark police station on September 19 accusing him of making derogatory remarks on the Sun Temple of Konark, Odisha, Lord Jagannath and the legislators of the Odisha Assembly.
On the basis of the complaint, police had registered a case under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology (IT) Act against Mitra.
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The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate's Court, Bhubaneswar had Wednesday accepted a petition of police and allowed it to take Mitra on a four-day remand.
Meanwhile, Mitra's lawyer Nikhil Mehera said he will apply for Mitra's bail after the completion of his remand period.
Mehera said since the SDJM court has already rejected the bail petition, his client will move the District and Session Court
On Tuesday night, police arrested Mitra in connection with an FIR against him at the Shahidnagar police station in Bhubaneswar. He was produced before a court the same night, which had remanded him to 14-days judicial custody.
Mitra on Tuesday had appeared before a House Committee of the Odisha Assembly. The panel has asked Mitra to appear in person again on November 2 and submit an affidavit.
Odisha Assembly Speaker P K Amat had set up a House Committee to probe the alleged derogatory remarks against the state, its culture and the lawmakers made by Mitra.
Chairman of the House committee Narasingha Mishra, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, had told reporters Tuesday that "Abhijit Iyer-Mitra confessed to the allegations against him and sought an unconditional apology for his stupidity. He has been directed to depose before the committee and submit an affidavit in this regard".
"The committee will decide whether to accept his apology or not after examining his affidavit. Accordingly, the committee will then recommend the House to take action against him if necessary," he said.
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