Journalists, camerapersons roughed up in Kolkata

Two journalists and two camerapersons of a Bengali news channel were injured after they were allegedly physically assaulted in two separate incidents on Saturday in and around the city.

Police said no complaint has been lodged. A channel official informed it would be done soon.

The official alleged that around 1 p.m. at least 15-20 people purportedly belonging to the state's ruling Trinamool Congress attacked a journalist and a cameraperson in Garden Reach area of south Kolkata where they had goneto do a story about factionalism in Trinamool.

"The cameraperson suffered an injury in his right eye and the people who attacked him tried to snatch and break the camera," said the channel official.

The cameraperson tried to escape and took shelter in a local shop but was chased by his assailants.

In another incident, at around 1.30 pm, another journalist and cameraperson with the same news channel were thrashed by 10-12 people at a toll plaza in Nivedita Setu over the Hooghly river.The channel official said some people grabbed the journalist and the cameraperson when a female toll plaza official protested about the TV crew taking footage of the area.

"They were taken to the plaza office and roughed up," the official said.

Police later came to their rescue and admitted them to a private hospital. The reporter is said to have suffered injuries on his arm.

An officer in the Garden Reach police station said their personnel have gone to the hospital to record the victims' statement.

The state's opposition parties took a dig at the administration about the incident alleging lawlessness.

"I really cannot understand what is happening. Only the chief minister is safe in the state and nobody can feel safe any longer," state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

Actor turned Bharatiya Janata Party leader Roopa Ganguly said the ruling party is afraid of news spreading about its performance and desperately trying to curb the news gathering process.

The state's intelligentsia also protested about the incident.

Theatre personality Kaushik Sen said: "Faction fighting is raging on inside the Trinamool and everybody knows that. The chief minister is appealing to her partymen to stop it and maintain peace but nobody is paying any heed."

Writer Bolan Ganguly complained that attacking journalists have become a trend in the state.