A stringer photographer with three English dailies, including Hindustan Times, was attacked on Sunday for highlighting the sorry state of affairs at Haryana Tennis Academy here. His journalist friend was injured while saving him.
The victims were identified as Manoj Dhaka, a stringer photographer, and Deepender Deswal, a journalist with Times of India.
In a complaint, Dhaka said he and Deswal had gone to Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex for a morning walk. "Around 7.30am, Vishwajit Sangwan 'Nitu'who claims to be a close relative of chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, asked us to come with him," Dhaka said.
As Dhaka neared him, Sangwan, a resident of Sector 1 here, attacked him indiscriminately on head with a tennis racquet. Deswal intervened to save him but he, too, was attacked, leaving him injured in hand. Both have received minor injuries.
The police have booked Sangwan under Sections 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Dhaka said that while attacking, Nitu mentioned that he was angry at him for reporting the state of affairs at the academy. HT had, on June 8, reported that tennis player Yash Hooda, 10, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, was expelled from the academy at the behest of some outsiders. The ground of his expulsion was that he was filmed playing with a coach, whom the academy had expelled.
{{/usCountry}}Dhaka said that while attacking, Nitu mentioned that he was angry at him for reporting the state of affairs at the academy. HT had, on June 8, reported that tennis player Yash Hooda, 10, the son of an auto-rickshaw driver, was expelled from the academy at the behest of some outsiders. The ground of his expulsion was that he was filmed playing with a coach, whom the academy had expelled.
{{/usCountry}}Haryana Tennis Academy director Jaideep Mukherjee said he did not know Sangwan and expressed unawareness about the assault incident. In fact, it was Mukherjee who appointed Sangwan the assistant director for the ITF Futures tournament held at the complex held in May.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vivek Sharma said, "This is a serious matter. More charges will be added to the first-information report (FIR) after we receive the reports of medical tests."