Journalist Somaru Nag, who was arrested on charges of aiding Maoists in Chattisgarh's Bastar area in July 2015, was acquitted by a local court on Thursday. Additional District Judge Niranjan Lal Chouhan quashed all charges against Nag, citing lack of evidence. His lawyer Arvind Chowdhury confirmed the development to Scroll.in.

Nag was arrested along with another journalist Santosh Yadav, who is still in jail. In October, hundreds of journalists organised a rally in the state capital Raipur to protest against their arrests and to demand more protection from the government. After journalists took out another rally in Jagdalpur in December, Chief Minister Raman Singh announced that a committee of editors would be set up to vet complaints against journalists before the police stepped in.