Bengaluru: A television reporter was attacked on November 2 in the Tumkur district of Karnataka for reporting on issues of illegal mining in the southern Indian state.
The ANI news agency said the attackers were local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the main opposition party in Karnataka.
The incident took place when the reporter arrived to attend a media conference organized by the BJP leaders.
A video of the incident has been doing rounds in the social media. In the video the BJP members were seen beating a reporter.
According to reports, the attacked local TV reporter had earlier reported on the issues of the illegal mining in Karnataka.
All the BJP party members have been booked based on the FIR that was registered by the attacked TV reporter.
Congress leader Suraj Hegde in the meantime has condemned the incident and requested for stringent action against the culprits.
“The reporter’s job is to bring out the truth and if a person is attacked for doing his job, it is not acceptable,” he told ANI.
“These days many incidents such as killings of reporter come to light. If reporters are threatened then the fourth pillar of democracy will be affected,” added Hedge.
In 2013, a slew of cases related to the illegal mining of iron ore were handed to the CBI after large-scale irregularities were reported in Karnataka. However, the CBI later wrote a letter to the State’s Chief Secretary saying it cannot register any case because of technical reasons.
CBI probe was ordered after a Lokayukta investigation, by then Lokayukta Justice Santosh Hegde, reported that more than 7 million metric tons of iron ore was mined and exported illegally from Bellary in north Karnataka.