Two Tripura scribes attacked by alleged BJP supporters

Supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party allegedly assaulted two journalists, Narayan Dhar and Priyatosh Das, in Tripura on Saturday 30 June.

The police in the State’s West Tripura and Unakoti districts said they received complaints about the assault on journalists Narayan Dhar and Priyatosh Das. While Mr. Dhar, 55, is a correspondent with Daily Desher Kathaat Mohanpur in West Tripura district, Mr. Das is the representative of Focus Tripura TV channel in Unakoti district’s Kailashahar town. They are now being treated at a hospital in State capital Agartala.

“The attackers snatched away Mr. Dhar’s press identity card, some money and other documents. They threatened him and members of his family with murder if the incident was reported to the police,” Samir Paul, editor of Daily Desher Katha, said. Mr. Das was at his house when two BJP workers allegedly called him to a poultry farm nearby. About 20 people assaulted him after he refused to help them acquire the farm.

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Saturday’s attack on journalists was the second such case in less than a fortnight of multiple attacks taking place on journalists across the nation. On June 18, members of an oil theft racket attacked reporter Suman Debnath with sharp weapons. Mr. Debnath had exposed the racket through a series of reports.

In March, 2018, three journalists were killed within a period of 24 hours in different parts of India. Naveen Nishchal from Dainik Bhaskar and Vijay Singh, who worked for a Hindi magazine, were killed on March 25 when the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a car driven by a village headman who had several criminal cases against him in Bihar. Nishal’s family later claimed that he had received threats just days before the incident.

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The very next day, Sandeep Sharma, an investigative journalist in Madhya Pradesh, was crushed by a truck. Sharma, who had done two “sting” investigations for a television channel on sand mafia in the region, was seen in CCTV footage riding his bike when the truck swerved suddenly and hit him before running him over.