Times Now Navbharat has been subjected to brazen harassment and intimidation tactics since the news broke of ‘Operation Sheesh Mahal,’ which revealed the extravagant and unjustified cost incurred in upgrading Delhi CM’s official mansion, the news channel has said.

The elected Delhi government is headed by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of the AAP.

According to a statement  issued by the news channel yesterday, on May 5 while covering an AAP political programme hosted by Kejriwal and Punjab CM Bhagwat Mann in Ludhiana, Times Now Navbharat’s reporter Bhawana Kishore, along with cameraman Mrityunjay and the driver, who had traveled from Delhi to cover the event, were arrested by the Ludhiana police on charges of “rash driving and insulting Dalits.”

On May 5, the crew was forcibly denied admission to the Mohalla Clinic event presided over by Kejriwal in what appears to be a coordinated set of actions, the channel said.

At around 4 p.m., the Times Now Navbharat team was stopped by a group of ladies in an e-rickshaw, which rammed into the automobile in which Bhawana and the team were traveling.

The ladies in the e-rickshaw then forcibly stopped the team, got into a fight, and phoned the cops.

“We have reason to assume that these women were hardworking AAP employees. They stated that the team abused them with racist and sexist slurs. It is inexplicable how someone from Delhi in a car could determine the caste of strangers on the street,” the news channel said in a statement.

Among the numerous norms broken by Punjab Police, according to the statement, a woman reporter, Bhawana Kishore, was illegally held without the presence of female police officers in the car.

The male officer who accompanied Bhawana was not wearing a name tag, which is a basic duty requirement. While family members are supposed to be told of a person’s imprisonment immediately, this law was also broken, and Bhawana’s family was only informed at 10:41 p.m.

“No lady can be arrested after the sun has set. However, Bhawana was not only arrested at 8.55 pm, but she was also detained at the police station until today (May 6) afternoon. They were also refused legal and phone access. Bhawana Kishore was compelled to sign documents in Gurmukhi against her will and without any knowledge of the language,” the channel statement said.

“We believe this is an example of harassment and an attempt to intimidate Times Now Navbharat into dropping an article about the Supreme Leader of the State’s ruling party.

“This is not just flagrant exploitation of state machinery for revenge, but also blatant misuse and disrespect of the SC/ST Act, which is being utilized incorrectly and without any foundation to intimidate. Times Network is pursuing legal action and cooperating with investigators,” the statement concluded.