The Press Club of Jammu (PCJ) today declared the results of its first photography awards, constituted earlier this year in the memory of photojournalist Ashok Sodhi.
The 'Ashok Sodhi memorial Award' for best photography was given to six photojournalists from the city. While three were judged in the first, second and third category, other three were awarded consolation prizes.
Photojournalist Rakesh Bakshi was awarded the first prize, Sanjay Gupta came second and Amarjeet Singh came at the third position. The consolation prize went to Shilpa Thakur, Ashwani Kumar and Inderjeet Singh.
The first, second and third prize winners were given cash prize of Rs 11,000, Rs 8,000 and Rs 5,000 respectively while those who got consolation prize received Rs 2,000 each.
Senior journalists comprising Raju Kerni, Mehraj Din, Channi Anand and Shishupal were among the members of jury.
Veteran journalist S P Sharma, who presided over the function recalled and lauded the role of Ashok Sodhi, who died while performing his professional duties during a fierce encounter between militants and security forces in Samba on May 11, 2008.
"As a photo journalist I would always see him guiding and inspiring the budding journalists and explaining to them various angles of photography. I was in a state of shock when I saw the news on TV that he was killed in the terrorist attack in 2008," Sharma said.
Ashwani Kumar, president of the Press Club of Jammu said that the award would now become an annual feature at the club.
