The Guwahati Police, in its FIR against journalists Siddharth Vardarajan and Karan Thapar, also names former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik, who has since died, Pakistani media personality Najam Sethi and Indian media person Ashutosh Bharadwaj, along with "unknown persons".
The FIR, filed on May 9, by Guwahati resident Biju Verma alleged that in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, online news platform The Wire and some of its authors and editors published a series of articles and commentaries (between late April and early May 2025) that "prima facie undermine India's sovereignty and security, promote enmity and public disorder, and spread misinformation".
