Modi Ally Tries to Quash Reports on India’s Deadly Covid Crisis

As India’s hospitals filled up and long queues emerged outside crematoriums last month, local journalist Anuj Awasthi says he had a big scoop. Oxygen supplies were being diverted away from his district in Uttar Pradesh to a larger city in the country’s most-populous state, he reported.

A few days later, the reporter for the local Kanwhizz Times was handed a so-called show-cause notice by the district administration under a law intended to curb rumors and misinformation. The notice states that the report was false and demanded that he reveal the source of his story and a subsequent Facebook post. Awasthi says he has responded stating that his article contained factually correct information widely reported by other news organizations.