3 journalists claim assault by police in J-K

Fayaz Lolu of ETV Bharat, Mudasir Qadri of News 18 Urdu and Junaid Rafiq of TV 9 also alleged that their equipment was seized by the police in the incident.

Three journalists on Thursday said that they were allegedly assaulted by police and later detained while covering the district development council polls in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

A security personnel stands guard as residents wait in a queue to cast their votes during the fourth phase of District Development Council (DDC) elections, at Laar in Ganderbal district.(PTI)

Fayaz Lolu of ETV Bharat, Mudasir Qadri of News 18 Urdu and Junaid Rafiq of TV 9 also alleged that their equipment was seized by the police in the incident.

According to the journalists, they had approached senior superintendent of police Sandeep Choudhary for a byte outside a polling booth in Srigufwara after a National Conference candidate alleged that he was not allowed to vote.

“As soon as SSP came and we approached him for a comment, he and his team simply started assaulting us,” Lolu said.

Senior police officials were not immediately available for comment. The incident has triggered condemnation from the Kashmir Press Club, which, in a statement, called for a thorough inquiry