MUMBAI: Nashik police have filed a case against Poonam Aggarwal, the journalist from the web journal Quint, who had shot the video of army jawan Roy Mathew (33) who was found dead earlier this month.
The police have booked Aggarwal under various sections of the Official Secrets Act and the Indian Penal Code like criminal trespass, abetment to suicide etc for her alleged role in Mathew's suicide.
The case was filed after they received an application from the Army accusing the journalist of illegally entering prohibited area. The Army has also accused the journalist of posing 'guided questions' to the jawan while carrying out the sting operation and wanted the application to be treated as a complaint, police said.
The sting video of the jawan shot by the journalist had raised voice against "orderly" (Sahayak) system in the Army. The video went viral, following which Mathew was found hanging in one of the abundoned buildings at the artillary centre of the Deolali camp near Nashik.
Police recovered a diary from the room where Mathew's body was found. A note from the diary written in Malyalam described the circumstances that led Mathew to suicide. He feared a court martial for speaking against the Army, the note said. However, police said that they are still awaiting forensic reports that would ascertain whether the note was written by Mathew.