Defence expert Abhijit Iyer Mitra held for 'abusive' Odisha remarks

Defence expert and columnist Abhijit Iyer Mitra was arrested from his Hazrat Nizamuddin home by the Delhi police on Thursday morning for allegedly making derogatory remarks against Odisha, the Konark Temple and Lord Jagannath. This was just hours after the Odisha Assembly adopted a privilege motion against him for the remarks.

Later in the evening, he was granted conditional bail by the Saket court till September 28 on a surety of Rs 1 lakh. He has also been asked to depose before Konark Police Station after completion of the period for further investigation.

According to the police, Iyer was arrested for questioning in connection with the incident. He was also taken to hospital for a medical examination and produced before Saket court.

Iyer Mitra had come to Odisha on September 15, allegedly at the invitation of BJP MP Baijayant Panda. They were taken to Puri, Konark and Chilika in a chopper by Panda, after which Iyer Mitra allegedly made some derogatory remarks in video posts on social media insulting the state, its culture and tradition, police said. On September 16, Iyer Mitra tweeted that Jagannath temple was built by the Gangas, who were disgraced Pallava Tamil retainers. "…no such thing as Orissa, just the wild southern provinces of undivided Bengal." Meanwhile, the court has rejected Odisha police's plea to take Iyer on transit remand as it failed to produce necessary documents.