A senior journalist has been booked on charges of interfering with Bihar’s electoral roll revision and provoking communal discord, police said Monday.
Ajit Anjum, an award-winning journalist, was booked under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and The Representation of Peoples Act, 1951, after he visited a poll booth in Balia on July 12. Anjum, who runs a YouTube channel, claims to have found several enumeration forms at the booth – some without photos, and others partially filled or without signatures.
On a complaint from a booth level officer (BLO), Mohammed Ansrarul Haque, Anjum was booked under sections such as criminal trespass, disobeying a lawful order, preventing a public servant from doing their duty and attempting to hurt religious feelings of the BNS, as well as sections of the Representation of Peoples Act.
The complainant said in the FIR: “I, Mohammad Ansarul Haq, BLO Part No. 16145, Sahibpur Kamal Assembly constituency, was uploading counting forms from the BLO App at the Block Auditorium in Ballia on July 12, 2025. Around 9:30 am, YouTuber Ajit Anjum, his associates, and cameraman entered the auditorium without authorisation and started questioning me about the number of voters in my booth, how many forms I had distributed, and how many I had received back.”
The complaint also claims that the persons asked about the number of Muslim voters and how many had their submitted papers.
“I informed them that my booth has 1,020 voters, and I had distributed forms to all and received them back. However, the YouTuber’s focus was on the claim that Muslim voters were being harassed, which was completely false. The YouTuber and his team did not allow me to work for an hour, causing significant disruption to my work. Therefore, I request that action be taken against YouTuber Ajit Anjum and his associates for obstructing government work and spreading communal discord,” it said.
Anjum, however, stood by his claim, saying his news report had been “fair and unbiased”.
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“I, as a conscious journalist, had shown how the Election Commission of India’s rules were not being followed. I have not revealed the identity of anyone, nor have I shown any close shots of the enumeration forms. Rather than taking action against its own official they lodged an FIR against me. But I’m not one to be cowed down,” he said.
