DHAKA, April 17 (Reuters) - Nearly 300 local media representatives took to the streets in Dhaka on Monday to protest against a police attack on colleagues covering the second test between Bangladesh and Australia.
At least 10 reporters and photographers were injured on Sunday when police beat them with batons at the divisional stadium in Chittagong.
Monday's Bangladesh newspapers carried neither match details nor photographs as print media boycotted the test.
The press box at the stadium was empty except for a handful covering for foreign media after the Bangladesh Sports Reporters Association called for a boycott of the test and the three one-dayers which follow later in the month.
"We condemn the attack and demand exemplary punishment for the police responsible. We cannot sit idle when men in uniform swoop on reporters without provocation," journalist leader Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said.
Around 20 officers with batons damaged cameras and clashed with about 50 reporters and photographers who had been protesting over an incident before play began on Sunday when a policeman assaulted a photographer in a row over using transport in the restricted stadium vicinity.
A reporter from a Chittagong-based daily, who was hit on the head by a baton, is still unconscious in hospital.
Another cameraman from a Dhaka-based private television channel has been transferred to a Dhaka hospital with head injuries.
"We are trying to resolve the matter and do the needful (including punishment for the offenders)," Mohammad Abdul Quayyum, inspector-general of Bangladesh police told Reuters.
An officer, who led the attack on media representatives, has been withdrawn to police headquarters in Dhaka to face a departmental inquiry.
"He might lose his job or may have his promotions blocked for rest of his service, if found guilty," said a police officer who requested not to be named.
Another officer who assaulted a photographer in the stadium vicinity was suspended from duty earlier on Sunday, immediately after the incident.
Police have regretted the incident and decided to bear the treatment expenses for the injured journalists and pay compensation for damage to cameras and equipments.
The sports journalists said they would meet shortly to decide their next course of action.
