Kanchanpur: In yet another attack on media, a journalist was allegedly assaulted by a group of miscreants at Shantipur village under Kanchanpur sub-division under North Tripura district on Wednesday.
The victim was Bikash Das, the Kanchanpur correspondent of Syandan Patrika, a local vernacular daily in Tripura.
Reportedly, Bikash had gone to cover a news story on corruption at Shantipur village. A group of miscreants at the instruction of chairman Shimul Chakma attacked him with sharp weapons, resulting in serious injuries.
However, Das managed to escape and hide in the nearby jungles while the miscreants continued to vandalise his vehicle. Later, he managed to reach the Kanchanpur police station and register a complaint.
Meanwhile, the Assembly of Journalists, a body of working journalist in Tripura has demanded the arrest of those involved in the deadly attack on journalist Bikash Das in Kanchanpur within the next 24 hours.
“One after another, attacks have taken place to silence the media after the Chief Minister threatened to take a look at the media at a public meeting on September 11. The Assembly of Journalists thinks Wednesday’s incident is part of that. Village committee chairman Shimul Chakma and his associates involved in the incident are members of the BJP,” the AoJ said in a press statement.
It further stated that the AoJ is of the opinion that the attack was carried out at the direct instigation of the party, which was motivated by the remarks of the Chief Minister.
“What is being prevented from this incident is that the Chief Minister has threatened to stop reporting against all corruption and one attack after another is happening,” AoJ added.
In September last year, two journalists were attacked while covering news at Barpathari market, in Belonia sub-division under South Tripura district.
