Manipur: Editor of local daily, arrested for publishing ‘sensitive details’, granted bail

The editor of a vernacular newspaper in Manipur, who was arrested for allegedly publishing sensitive details in a report, has been released on bail, an official said on Monday.

He was arrested on Friday and granted bail by a local court on Sunday, he said. ”The editor, Dhanabir Maibam, had published sensitive details in a news report,” the government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. Maibam was remanded to police custody till Sunday. He was booked under various sections of the Official Secrets Act, including ones that entail punishment for “promoting enmity on the ground of religion and race”, the official said.

Sources said the report in ‘Huyen Lanpao’ highlighted some ”developing incidents” at Moreh town, which has witnessed a surge in gunfights between state forces and suspected Kuki militants.

Earlier, on December 28, another editor of a vernacular daily was arrested on similar grounds and later released on bail.

The Congress, in a statement on Sunday, had condemned the arrest of the two editors and demanded their immediate release.

“The Indian National Congress strongly deplores the arrest of the editors of reputable vernacular newspapers. We firmly believe that journalists should be allowed to pursue their professional duties without fear of intimidation, especially when reporting on matters of public interest,” the party’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said.

“The BJP government in Manipur has indulged in a string of assaults on freedom of press by arresting journalists, slapping grave charges and even confronting the Editors Guild of India (EGI) when they attempted to honestly report the true picture of the strife-ridden state,” Khera alleged in the statement.