The Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha has come under flak on social media over the arrest of Delhi-based defence analyst Abhijit Iyer Mitra in connection with his controversial tweets posted a year ago.
After a marathon round of interrogation by top officials of Odisha Police at an unknown place in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday afternoon, Iyer Mitra was arrested in the evening. He was then produced in the SDJM court in Bhubaneswar, which rejected his bail plea and sent him to judicial custody for 14 days. He spent the night at the Jharpada jail in the city.
It has created an uproar on social media with many accusing the Odisha government of sending a citizen to jail for ‘satirical’ tweets. Just before his interrogations by the police, Iyer-Mitra had appeared before a House Committee of Odisha Assembly and tendered an unconditional apology for his ‘derogatory’ remarks on legislators.
Speaking to Outlook, Iyer Mitra’s lawyer, Nikhil Mehra, said the controversial video posted by his client was a satirical one and there was no malicious intent and hence there was no ground for his arrest.
Iyer Mitra had on September 16 posted a video on Twitter blaming Muslims for the erotic sculptures on the walls of the famous Sun Temple in Konark, a UNESCO World Heritage site. After his video post led to state-wide outrage, he called one everyone from the Naveen Patnaik government to Odisha MLAs and journalists. Two FIRs were registered against him, one each at Konark and Sahid Nagar police stations for his remarks.