Hyderabad: The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) has strongly condemned the registration of an FIR against independent journalist Ajit Anjum by the Bihar Police, calling it an attack on press freedom.

In a joint statement issued on Sunday, IJU President K. Sreenivas Reddy and Secretary General Balwinder Singh Jammu demanded that the FIR be withdrawn immediately.

The case was filed after Anjum posted a video on his YouTube channel on July 13, highlighting alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision (SIR) of the voter list in Begusarai district. However, the local administration dismissed the allegations as baseless and accused Anjum of attempting to provoke public sentiment.

The IJU leaders criticised the police action and urged authorities to uphold journalistic freedom. At the same time, they advised journalists and content creators to verify information using fact-checking tools before publishing or broadcasting news.

“While responsible reporting is essential, booking journalists for raising public interest issues is unacceptable in a democracy,” the IJU leaders said, urging the Bihar government to respect press freedom and withdraw the case against Anjum without delay.