Kolkata, March 26 (IANS) Three media persons on Thursday sustained minor injuries in an assault by employees of Rose Valley while reporting on developments surrounding the arrest of the chief of Saradha-scam related ponzi firm a day ago, police said.
The media persons were reporting on the latest developments surrounding Gautam Kundu's arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday.
"Three journalists sustained minor injuries. A complaint has been lodged by the injured journalists. No persons have been detained or arrested yet. Those who attacked the journalists were all employees of Rose Valley," Joint Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Rajiv Mishra told reporters here.
Kundu was presented before a sessions court during the day when a mob comprising the company's employees attacked the media persons stationed around the court premises. He was presented before Sessions Judge Mohammad Mumtaz Khan's court, where the ED sought his custody, while Kundu' lawyers prayed for his bail.
After hearing both parties, the judge rejected the bail plea and sent him to ED's custody till March 31.
According to footage showed on TV channels, while a journalist and a cameraperson of a regional news channel were assaulted, the mob broke the camera of one photographer of an English daily and another photojournalist.
Mishra claimed "adequate police personnel were present at the court".
"Initially, there were about 20 personnel who were present, under the supervision of the assistant commissioner of the central division. Later the deputy commissioner of Central Division also joined in the aftermath. No baton charge took place," Mishra said.
One of the journalists said people were demanding an answer on Kundu's arrest.
"People were shouting 'Rose Valley zindabad' and 'why Gautam Kundu is arrested'. Soon, they asked us what we were filming and assaulted us... while I was being beaten up, our cameraperson was dragged to another end and he was also assaulted," the journalist said.
He claimed the mob also threatened to kill the journalists while another reporter said he was hit with a piece of wood.
The mob allegedly also damaged the media persons' equipment.
Politicians, intellectuals and rights activists condemned the attack.
Communist Party of India-Marxist Central Committee member and MP Mohammad Salim said: "All well-meaning democracy loving people should condemn this act. It is not merely an attack on journalists, but on people's democratic rights."
Rights activist Ranjit Sur said: "I condemn this act. By looking at the incident, it is understandable that it was a planned attack".
Painter Samir Aich questioned the attack despite police presence.
"How was this (incident) possible before the eyes of the police and administration? Rose Valley is making a mistake if it thinks it can cheat people off their money and will assault journalists reporting about it," Aich said.
TANCET 2023 Result Out: Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test result released, download like this
TANCET 2023 Result Out: Anna University, Chennai has released the Tamil Nadu Common Entrance Test (TANCET) 2023 Result on its official website. Candidates who appeared in the TANCET 2023 exam can
Telling the vaccine to be safe, the government is far from doubtful, said- Vaccination will prove to be the last nail in the corona coffin
The world's largest vaccination campaign continues continuously in India. But some states have reported that they are not getting enough health worker vaccines, which is ruining the vaccine dose.
India's pressure has worked, Britain has recognized the Covishield vaccine, but it is still a problem
The pressure created by India has worked. Britain has finally approved the corona vaccine 'Covishield' made by the Serum Institute of India in its new travel rules, but a hitch has also been
India-America: Hopkins declares Indian-American student as 'world's most brilliant student' for the second time in a row
US-based John Hopkins Center for Talented Youth has declared Indian-American schoolgirl Natasha Periyanayagam as the 'world's most brilliant student' for the second year in a row, based on the results
Salaar: Prabhas starrer 'Salaar' dominates the box office, earned Rs 150 crore in Hindi alone
Leaving behind 'KGF 1', 'Bahubali 1' and 'Pushpa 1', Hombale Films' film 'Salaar', directed by Prashant Neel, has proved to be one of the most successful pan India films of last year. The film has
Petrol Diesel Price: Oil companies have released the prices of petrol and diesel, know how much are the prices in your city
Petrol Diesel Price: Oil companies have released the prices of petrol and diesel for today. Today companies have changed the prices of oil in Delhi and Chennai. The government had announced a few
Demand for compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of those who died of Corona, Supreme Court asked the Center to decide in 10 days
New Delhi: The Center today told the Supreme Court that the demand for compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of those who died of the corona is being sympathetically considered. The decision will
2 lac active cases were reduced in 27 days, the pace of new cases also decreased by about 3% in 3 weeks; 73.05 lakh cases so far
On Wednesday, 14 thousand 504 active cases were reduced in the country. It has decreased by two lakhs in the last 27 days. On 17 September, they were at a peak of 10.17 lakhs and on 14 October they
PM Modi US Visit: Talked to Biden, met Trump; Why is Modi's visit to America special before US Elections?
An important meeting is going to take place between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden this weekend. In this, the partnership between the two countries will not only be
Kanpur Violence: Big action in Kanpur violence case, action against these 4 accused under gangster
Kanpur News: In the case of violence that took place in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, last month, the police have taken action against four accused under the Gangster Act. The police commissioner and
