Not a Happy Diwali for Abhijit Iyer-Mitra; Odisha court extends judicial custody by 14 more days

Nov 6 (AZINS) In a big blow to journalist Abhijit Iyer Mitra, the Jharpara Jail camp court on Tuesday reserved a verdict on his bail hearing, and extended his judicial custody by 15 more days, Kalinga television reported.

Earlier, Iyer Mitra had appeared before a House Committee of the state Assembly over his alleged remarks on the Sun temple in Konarak and tendered an unconditional apology.

As soon as he stepped out of the Assembly, Iyer-Mitra was arrested for allegedly hurting religious sentiments of people and making derogatory remarks against the state, the Konark temple and Lord Jagannath.

Iyer-Mitra was charged under various sections of the IPC on the basis of an FIR filed at the Saheed Nagar police station here, Bhubaneswar ACP (Zone-5) Kishore Mund said.

Iyer Mitra has been asked to reappear before the House Committee on November 2, Chairman of the committee Narasingha Mishra, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, said.

"Abhijit Iyer Mitra admitted to the allegations against him and sought an unconditional apology for his stupidity. He has been directed to depose before the committee and submit an affidavit in this regard," Mishra told reporters here.

Iyer, who is also well-known on micro-blogging perform Twitter, had support pouring in with several people on Twitter condemning his detainment and subsequent arrest.

Iyer's micro-blogging profile claims he is ‘so right wing that he makes Genghis Khan look like an HR activist’. @Iyervall is a well-known Twitter commentator and often picks fights with Twitterari across the spectrum. Several Twitter users came out in support of Iyer-Mitra, tweeting with the hash tag #IStandWithAbhijit.

Historian Ram Chandra Guha tweeted: "This is appalling. The archaic colonial laws that allow such arrests must be struck down. The Odisha Government must rise above such pettiness. The right to offend is fundamental to democracy. "