Miscreants on Friday allegedly assaulted a journalist of a daily in Pipili, nearly 20 km from Bhubaneswar, apparently because he was critical in his news item against the local notified area council (NAC) authorities, the Times of India reported. [Link]
The scribe, Rajat Ratan Das (39), was admitted to Capital hospital here with a fractured hand. Police arrested one person in connection with the attack later in the evening. In his FIR, Das alleged that the miscreants attacked him at the behest of NAC chairman S K Babu, who was vindictive following his news reports. "I was sitting near the Nimapada Chowk in morning when Babu's goons beat me black and blue," he said.
Babu rubbished the charges. "I am not at all involved in his attack. He is falsely trying to implicate me in the case. I have no enmity with the journalist," the NAC chairman said.
The attack evoked sharp reaction from the media fraternity. The Media Unity for Freedom of Press ( MUFP) condemned the brutal attack on Das and demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. The incident came close on the heels of the alleged assault of a journalist by police in Bhubaneswar recently.
