Father of arrested scribe passes away; scribe gets interim bail

A CORRESPONDENT

DHUBRI: The ailing father of electronic media journalist, Rajib Sarma died on Thursday morning, allegedly unable to bear the shock of his only son being arrested by police on Wednesday night from his residence at Gauripur.

Rajib Sarma was arrested on the basis of an FIR lodged by Dhubri DFO, Biswajit Ray alleging that Sarma had demanded money from him. Sarma was booked under non-bailable sections but due to sudden demise of his father, he was granted an interim bail of three days to perform the last rites of his father.

The journalist fraternity of western Assam strongly condemned the arrest and demanded thorough inquiry into alleged corruption in Dhubri forest department by a competent authority.

Vice-president of Dhubri Journalists' Association (DJA), Pranabasish Roy said that Rajib Sarma was general secretary of DJA and he had been reporting about the alleged corruption in the forest department and this had aggrieved the department officials, including the DFO.

"But the voice of journalists cannot be silenced by lodging FIRs and arrests. So, we demand a proper inquiry into the alleged corruption that Rajib Sarma telecast in the channel," Roy added.

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