Headlines
Attacks on scribes: Mumbai media demands stringent action
Mumbai/Thane, July 17
The Mumbai Press Club
has expressed "deep shock" over the killing of Thane-based journalist
Raghavendra Dube and brutal attack on at least two other journalists
when they went to cover a raid on a bar on Friday.
In a
statement, the Mumbai Press Club (MPC) said two media persons - Santosh
Mishra and Shashi Sharm - had gone to cover a police raid on the White
House Bar in Mira Road town of Thane district.
While they were busy clicking pictures of the raids, they were assaulted by the bar staffers.
Sharma,
who sustained serious injuries, is being treated at the Indira Gandhi
Civic Hospital while Mishra was admitted to Bhakti Vedanta Hospital.
Later,
on hearing of the attacks on his colleagues, Dube reached the spot and
later went to the Mira Road police station where a large number of bar
owners and their staffers were present.
"This is shocking. This
incident comes a day after journalists were abused and manhandled when
they were covering a cylinder blast," the MPC said.
Appreciating
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' patient hearing to a media delegation,
the MPC urged him to look into the frequent attacks on journalists and
make it a cognizable, non-bailable offence.
A delegation
comprising representatives of the Mumbai Press Club, Maharashtra
Patrakar Parishad, TV Journalists Association, Bombay News Photographers
Association and other media organisations met Fadnavis and conveyed
their concerns on Friday.