Abhijit Iyer-Mitra’s Jharpada Tweet Raises Eyebrows As Bhubaneswar Battles Corona

Bhubaneswar: He shares a love-hate relationship with Odisha since being jailed for having made fun of Odisha, its people and some revered symbols of Odia pride like the Sun Temple and Jagannath Temple in Puri, in a series of tweets and statements.

Delhi-based journalist Abhijit Iyer-Mitra loves to poke and he has done it again.

Odisha reported its first coronavirus death on Tuesday and it was a 72-year-old man from Jharpada in Bhubaneswar.

As soon as the news broke, he tweeted: “Oh no!!! Jharpada was my beloved home for 43 days!!!”

Oh no!!! Jharpada was my beloved home for 43 days!!! https://t.co/h3ylMHkXzn

— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) April 7, 2020

In September 2018, Iyer-Mitra was booked under IPC Sections 294, 295A, 506, 500, 153A and Section 67 of IT Act. The Odisha Police arrested him for hurting Odia sentiments the following month and he was sent to Jharpada Jail on October 23, 2018.

He then tendered an unconditional apology for his derogatory remarks against the Sun Temple and comments on legislators before a House Committee of the Odisha Assembly.

Iyer-Mitra walked out of the jail on December 6, 2018, after a court in Konark granted him bail on a personal bond of Rs. 20,000 and asked him to not make objectionable comments in the future.