Jharkhand Police respond to Scroll.in's report, silent on 'unknown' thousands accused of sedition

In a statement on Friday, Jharkhand Police said media reports have given “totally incorrect and hugely inflated figures” about the number of people booked in sedition cases in Khunti district.

On Monday, Scroll.in had reported that the police had filed sedition cases against more than 10,000 people

in the district over 2017 and 2018 when Adivasi villages erected stone monoliths with engravings of the Indian Constitution related to tribal autonomy.

The report was based on an analysis of 19 First Information Reports in which 132 of the accused were identified by name and thousands of others were listed as “unknown” accused. A writ petition filed in the High Court said Adivasis in the district were living in fear since the police could name them in the cases later.

The police statement, released on Twitter, is silent on the thousands of “unknown” people listed as the accused. It restricts itself to confirming sedition cases against 172 people.

“There are 19 criminal cases in Khunti district which have been declared true [under section 121A and...

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