Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Additional Sessions Judge Court has rejected the bail petition of web channel editor Sudhanshu Shekhar Sahu and his associate Smruti Ranjan Behera in the Dutee Chand case.
As per the official reports, the two were arrested for allegedly harassing Dutee Chand by threatening to telecast defamatory news about her.
While expressing concern over the sharp rise of such crimes against unsuspecting citizens by anti-socials in the guise of journalism, especially in the totally unregulated social media sector, the court stated that there is clear prima facie evidence against the accused persons and there is a great likelihood that they may tamper with the evidence and intimidate witnesses during the investigation.
In her complaint with Mahila Police, Dutee had stated that Rout demanded Rs 1 lakh from her for not airing an interview, in which her family members reportedly spoke about their personal issues with her and the incident also had an adverse impact on her performance during the recently concluded Tokyo Olympics.
Rout and Behera were arrested on September 3 and police took them on a day remand on September 6 for interrogation. Dutee has also filed a Rs 5 crore defamation lawsuit against Rout and RTI activist Pradip Pradhan for defaming her reputation.
