India: Rupesh Kumar Singh has now spent four years behind bars for exposing the disastrous effects of industrial pollution

The nightmare started in 2019, when Rupesh Kumar Singh was arrested after the police allegedly planted explosives in his car. Then, in 2022, he was arrested again at his home in the state of Jharkhand under India's draconian anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), and detained for having links to Maoist rebels. Soon after, he was added as a suspect in three other existing cases in quick succession. He has been deprived of his liberty since his 2022 arrest and a total of five cases are pending against him.

According to RSF information, on 9 April 2026, the 39-year-old journalist was transferred to Bhagalpur Central Prison, more than 350 km from his hometown, drastically limiting visits from his wife and their 8-year-old son. This marks his fifth prison transfer since 2022, and his health has deteriorated considerably over the past four years because of the conditions of his detention.

A whistleblower on industrial pollution silenced

Shortly before his 2022 arrest, Rupesh Kumar Singh had published reports - notably in the news site Janchowk, as well as on his X account - on the disastrous health consequences of industrial pollution in Giridih district, in southern Jharkhand. Among those he interviewed was a young girl suffering from a facial tumor, whose case illustrated the surge in serious illnesses linked to industrial contamination among the area's most vulnerable residents.

His wife, Ipsa Shatakshi, has consistently maintained that the legal harassment of her husband was heightened in the wake of these investigations. In 2021, revelations that certain Indian journalists were targeted by the spyware Pegasus indicated that Singh's phone number appeared on a leaked list of potential surveillance targets alongside dozens of other Indian journalists, signalling that he was under scrutiny even before his arrest.

Human rights defenders and fellow journalists argue the charges were brought on false grounds. In the 2022 case, Singh's name reportedly did not even appear in the original police complaint and was added only afterward. The multiple cases filed against him help ensure he remains in detention: even though he was successfully granted bail in two of the five cases, the Supreme Court of India rejected his bail application in a third case in January 2025. The case is now handled by India's National Investigation Agency, and no bail application has yet been filed.

Singh's case is one of several highlighted in a recent RSF report on the growing use of national security legislation as a weapon against journalists worldwide. Published in July 2026, the report details how charges of terrorism, espionage and "anti-state" activity are increasingly used to silence news professionals covering sensitive subjects, from environmental damage to human rights abuses.