Chennai: A man has attacked the headquarters of Sathiyam TV, a popular satellite channel in Chennai, promoted by Mohan C Lazarus, an evangelist.
CCTV footage released by the channel showed the man carrying a sword and a shield on August 3 ransacked the channel’s properties.
“He entered the office premises through the car parking area. He carried the weapons in a guitar bag,” the channel’s managing director, Isaac Livingstone, told NDTV.
Livingstone also claimed he was the target. He said the man, now arrested, kept asking for him and “he thought I was safely locked in a room.”
On whether there was any possible trigger or motive behind the attack, he said, “We did not do any story against any individual. We don’t know what’s behind this”.
Senior police officers in Chennai could not be reached for a comment. However, a policeman at the Royapuram police station confirmed that the accused has been identified as Rajesh Kumar. He said investigation is on in the case.
“Rajesh is originally from Coimbatore but had moved to Gujarat. He had come driving his car all the way,” claimed Livingstone. NDTV could not confirm this with the police.
The Chennai Press Club has condemned the attack. Bharathi Tamilan, joint secretary, Chennai Press Club, has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to enact a law for the safety of journalists and their offices.
Sathiyam TV is a round-the-clock Tamil news and current affairs channel headquartered at Chennai’s Royapuram.It is managed by Sathiyam Media Vision Pvt. Ltd.
The channel was launched in October 2010 and offers news based investigative shows, discussion shows, public interest shows, satirical shows and history based shows.
Its viewers are spread over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.
Sathiyam also offers media based vocational education and training through its educational arm, Sathiyam Academy. Apart from this, Sathiyam runs a matrimonial service by the name “My Best Companion.”