E-Paper
UP cops probe ‘assault’ on journos by Akhilesh
Lucknow Moradabad Police on Sunday began a probe into a case of rioting against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over an alleged incident of violence against a group of journalists in the district on March 10
Lucknow Moradabad Police on Sunday began a probe into a case of rioting against Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over an alleged incident of violence against a group of journalists in the district on March 10.
A police team visited the spot of the alleged attack and recorded the statement of the staff present there.
“The case is being investigated by a team of local police headed by the station house officer (SHO). The team has also collected the CCTV footage of the place. The statements of the concerned parties are being recorded,” superintendent of police (city) of Moradabad Amit Kumar Anand said.
Yadav and 20 unidentified party workers were booked under sections 147 (rioting), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in the FIR filed on the basis of a complaint by the journalists on Saturday.
According to news agency PTI, the FIR claimed that Yadav was irked by a few personal questions posed by some journalists during an interaction with him at a hotel, following which he allegedly instigated his security guards and aides to attack the journalists.
Taking to Twitter, Yadav said: “Today, the manner in which the Constitution is being attacked, false cases are being registered against party leaders and physical assaults are taking place after probes by agencies are an adverse effect of the BJP’s violent political thought. Those who level allegations against others of running a syndicate are in fact themselves running a ‘sanghicate’.”
A counter-FIR was filed against one Ubaid-ur-Rehman and Fareed Samsi, believed to be journalists, by SP Moradabad district president Jaibir Singh Yadav. The case was filed under sections 160 (committing affray), 353 (deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC.
Condemning the FIR against his party chief, SP leader Shafiqur Rahman Barq said: “The FIR is equivalent to a fake FIR. Yadav ji is our president. This move by the complainants is not acceptable. Instead of covering his press conference, the media is busy covering his FIR-related stories. Yadav ji too has lodged an FIR against the complainants.”
Barq added that the party will stage a protest against the FIR in the coming days.
In an attack on the SP chief, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister and BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya said: “The SP has crossed all limits by attacking journalists for asking questions. Akhilesh Yadav ji, the violence against journalists in your presence is condemnable.”
