Just days after a Delhi-NCR based woman journalist had complained to the police about allegedly receiving threats from former councillors, including one from the BJP, dozens of traders on Monday staged a protest demanding quashing of the FIR outside a police station in Ghaziabad, Hindustan Times reported.
The protest was held outside the Shalimar Garden police station, where an FIR was registered on February 13 against former BJP councillor Sardar Singh Bhati and Kalicharan Pehalwan, another former councillor, among others based on the complaint filed by Sunita Upadhyaya, who works for Harit Bulletin.
In October 2024, Sunita had reported about an eatery being run allegedly without a license in the area. Speaking to Newslaundry, she said that her report also focused on issues related to hygiene and the quality of food served at the eatery. “I started receiving threats immediately after my report came out. Some people who ran the eatery told me not to report on it,” she claimed.
The unidentified owner of the eatery Punjabi Dhaba is one of the accused named in the FIR.
In her complaint to the police, Sunita alleged that on February 8, the accused stopped her near the eatery when she was returning from a reporting assignment in Delhi. She was taking photos of garbage around the eatery to add to her October report, she said.
“As I was clicking the pictures, several men from the eatery surrounded me, demanding that I delete all the photos,” she told Newslaundry. She further claimed that Bhati and a group of 20-25 men surrounded her, restricting her movement and questioned her reporting. “Bhati threatened to kill me if I continued taking photos or videos of the eatery. He said no would find out and there would be no evidence too,” Sunita said.
She then approached the Ghaziabad Police and an FIR was registered in the matter on February 13 at the Shalimar Garden police station.
Former councillor from Ward 37 of Shalimar Garden Main, Bhati led a protest by traders seeking the scrapping of the FIR. He accused Sunita of extorting local traders and demanded police action against her.
The Ghaziabad police said that the protest was held without permission and in defiance of the prohibitory orders issued on February 16. They further said that they will not expunge the FIR and submissions made by the suspects would be made part of the ongoing probe.
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