Concern of KEG

There have been a lot of incidents in the recent past in which journalists working on the ground have complained that the police and the government forces have obstructed their professional duties and have even thrashed them.

Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) recently expressed its serious concern over the use of force against three freelance reporters, contributing to three news channels while covering the DDC polls in Anantnag.

These three journalists have accused police of thrashing them in presence of SSP Anantnag and have claimed that in fact he was instrumental for their beating up and afterwards ordering the police to keep them in the police station of Srigufwara in South Kashmir.

The trio including Fayaz Lolu (ETV Bharat) Mudasir Qadri (News 18 Urdu) and Junaid Rafiq (TV 9) alleged that they were beaten in Srigufwara in presence of the SSP. They said their equipment was seized and they were taken to the local police post, are the observations made by Kashmir Editors Guild in its press release over the incident.

“The Guild is surprised over the reason that the cops resorted to force when everything around was normal. The three TV reporters revealed that they had recorded a political activist’s complaint about the polling and were told by a duty officer that the SSP was on the way and wanted to give his version,” it said in a statement.

As the officer’s vehicle reached the spot, he avoided giving them a bite and instead started beating them. They said they were taken to the police station and their equipment was seized. During their stay in the station, one of them had a panic attack and was taken to hospital, the KEG said.