A reporter of a national daily was assaulted allegedly while his phone was snatched away in a fateful incident that unfolded in Jashpur district of Chhattisgarh on Monday, learnt Organiser. According to the details of the incident a print media reporter of a prominent media group was attacked and stopped from covering an incident by a policeman on Monday night.
As per the complaint filed by the crime beat reporter, Ramesh Sahu (name changed), Head constable (HC) Kripa Sandhu Tigga allegedly slapped and snatched his phone when he was capturing a gathering of the villagers in the local police station.
Narrating his ordeal in the letter, Sahu has claimed that he had got some Intel about a gathering of the villagers in the Jashpur police station following which he had gone there to cover the issue. After hearing the villagers about their concern he was just capturing a snap of them in his phone when HC Tigga allegedly manhandled him and asked him about his authority to film the incident on his mobile phone.
It’s been reported that when Sahu tried explaining things to Tigga that he is a media person and is only trying to do his job, Tigga allegedly slapped him and deleted the picture from his mobile phone saying that you are making a video.
“My phone was also inspected by Tigga and I was treated like a criminal. There were a number of villagers of Dabnipani who were present at the spot and witnessed the entire assault”, read further the complaint letter.
Sharing the complaint letter on twitter, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader from the tribal dominated town, Prabal Judev, said that the assault on a journalist in the Vananchal region is a testimony that the fourth pillar of democracy is not safe under the Congress rule.
The Congress government does not want to hear anything against them and is trying to exert pressure on people from every section. This is shameful and the accused should be punished stringently. The BJP is standing behind the Journalists and will make sure that justice is done, added Judev.
Speaking with the Organiser representative, Sahu who had been transferred in the region some time ago said the head constable is new in the area, I tried explaining things to him but he manhandled and misbehaved with me. Kripa Tigga was line attached after the incident, claimed Sahu, who also requested not to mention his name or his group possibly due to pressure on him after the incident.
It is to be noted that this is not the first time that a media person has been assaulted in the district as earlier another journalist identified as Sanjit Yadav was also allegedly manhandled near Lawakera RTO check post of police station limits near the Odisha border in September last year.
The incident occurred when Sanjit was interacting with the guards posted at the Lawakera checkpost when he was not only beaten up but his camera was also snatched by the miscreants. It was then reported that there were a few miscreants who were indulged in illegal extortion near the RTO checkpost who manhandled and assaulted Sanjit when he tried to record their act on the camera.
It is to be noted that the incident occurred days after another journalist associated with the news 18 group was manhandled and stopped from reporting by the personnel of Bihar police in Darbhanga on August 03.
It was then reported that the news 18 correspondent Vikas Kumar Singh was allegedly manhandled and stopped from recording the incident by the security personnel when the former had arrived at the Kachahari Chowk to cover the sit-in of a BJP leader against alleged attack on a temple.
The incident sparked a huge row and got politically escalated after many senior leaders of the opposition BJP termed the incident as a bolt on the freedom of press and demanded an enquiry into the matter.
