Nagpur journalist sent to three days’ police custody for remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji

Nagpur journalist Prashant Koratkar arrested for threat call to historian, sent to police custody for three days.

Nagpur journalist Prashant Koratkar — a day after being arrested for making a threat call to historian Indrajit Sawant and his derogatory remarks against Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj — was on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) sent to police custody, where he would remain for three days.

The Sessions Court in Kolhapur sent him to custody till March 28, allowing the police to conduct a voice test as the crux of the case was an alleged audio conversation with Mr. Sawant.

The accused was detained on Monday from Telangana and brought to Kolhapur, where he was formally arrested. He was booked under the sections related to promoting hatred or enmity between groups of Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS). The complaint was filed at Juna Rajwada Police Station in Kolhapur.

Mr. Sawant’s lawyer Asim Sarode had argued for seven-day custody, saying Mr. Koratkar had made objectionable statements about Rajmata Jijau. Mr. Sarode also sought strict action against the journalist as he had “instigated emotions of people”.

The police too had sought seven days’ custody on the grounds that they needed to collect voice samples for technical analysis, investigate tampering with evidence, and look into acquaintances who had helped the accused.

“We sought seven days custody as police will require time to go to the places where the accused was hiding, investigate people who helped him with resources, including vehicles to move from one place to other, while the accused has denied making any such phone [call], so police need to investigate,” said Mr. Sarode to The Hindu.

The main contention of the accused’s lawyer was that he was not served any notice and argued that police arrested him due to the pressure of media trial. He questioned why the police did not collect voice samples when he was granted interim protection from arrest.