Arunachal Times journalist assaulted, press bodies condemn attack

Itanagar: In what may be mentioned as a breach to the freedom of the press, it has come to light that the Associate Editor of The Arunachal Times Ranjit Sinha was beaten up on Friday by four people near heavily guarded Civil Secretariat in Itanagar.

As per the report in Arunachal Times, the 52 year old Associate Editor was walking back home after work when he was assaulted. The attack was so severe that he fell unconscious for sometime before he managed to pick himself up and report to the ITBP personnel, guarding the civil secretariat. Sinha had identified himself as a journalist of this daily just before the attack when the assaulters asked him where he was coming from.

With the help of ITBP, a passerby, whose is unknown as yet later dropped Sinha back to the office from where he was taken to the R K mission hospital. Doctors expect that he will make a full recovery.

Assaulters allegedly snatched his belongings including mobile phone and cash.

This is apparently the second attack on Sinha who was beaten up in 2012. The Arunachal Times has demanded immediate action in this regard from the concerned authorities.

Meanwhile, reacting to the latest incident of attack on a member of the press fraternity of the state, the news media organisations have expressed their collective anger over such frequent incidents. Arunachal Press Club, Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists, and Arunachal Electronic Media Association while condemning the assault said that media persons are especially vulnerable to such attacks.

“The nature of the job is such that most print media journalists and employees often work late into the night to keep citizens updated with the happenings of the state and return home well after 11 PM. Such work timings leave press persons at a disadvantage,” a joint statement from the organisations said.

The press bodies’ concerns were amplified by the fact that the incident took place just next to the Civil Secretariat where security personnel are posted 24/7. While they expressed their gratitude to the security personnel who helped Sinha after the assault, they expressed concerns over the law and order scenario in the state capital.

“Although the administration has stepped up efforts to keep a check on crimes, incidents of bag-snatching have risen over the last few weeks. Perhaps it would bode well for citizens if the police conducted regular patrolling apart from inspection at designated zones,” the APC, APUWJ and AEMA said.