Mahesh Langa, The Hindu journalist who is in jail in connection with cases of alleged fraud, has been booked by the Gujarat police in a fresh matter for purportedly extorting Rs 40 lakh from a real estate agent, news agency PTI reported on Friday.
An FIR was lodged against Langa on January 23 by the Satellite police station in Ahmedabad based on a complaint by real estate agent Janak Thakor. Langa, who is currently in Sabarmati jail, was booked under section 308 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the fresh case. This is the fifth case filed against the journalist.
In the latest case, as reported by Indian Express, Thakor accused Langa of purportedly extorting Rs 40 lakh over a period of time. Thakor claimed Langa threatened to use his “influence” to cause “losses” for Thakor if he did not comply, and also purportedly threatened to write false articles about him.
The FIR quoted Thakor as saying he “did not take legal action against Langa fearing his reputation but had come forward after learning about the other cases against him”.
The cases against Langa
Langa was first booked by the Ahmedabad police's crime branch in an alleged GST scam in October last year. The crime branch FIR said that several individuals and entities, including a firm allegedly owned by Langa’s cousin, were part of a network of 200 establishments which purportedly tried to evade taxes through fraudulent transactions.
In the same month, Langa was booked by the Gandhinagar police on the charges of theft after official documents were allegedly recovered from his residence during a raid.
Several press bodies had condemned the second FIR against Langa and had urged the Press Council of India to “perform its mandate of safeguarding the freedom of the press”. The Editors Guild of India also issued a statement saying the FIR against Langa for possessing “confidential” documents was “worrisome” as journalists are often required to review sensitive documents in the course of their work.
Langa was then slapped with a cheating case by the Ahmedabad police and in December last year, the Rajkot police booked him in another case of alleged GST evasion. He was granted bail by the Gujarat High Court in the alleged case of GST scam filed by the crime branch but remains lodged in jail in connection with other cases.
Newslaundry reported in detail on the cases against Langa. Why didn’t local journalists speak up for him? And is there another reason why the police are pinning him down? Read our report to find out.
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