Acid attack on Maharashtra scribe, kin

A journalist and his family were victims of an acid attack by local political activists in another assault on the media in Maharashtra, an official said today.

A journalist and his family were victims of an acid attack by local political activists in another assault on the media in Maharashtra, an official said here Wednesday.

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Dinesh S Choudhary, 40, his wife Arsana and teenaged daughter Rashmi were attacked in their house in Tilak Nagar in Purna town in Parbhani district, police said.

Police said the attackers, one of whom is local Congress activist Sayed Ali 'Don' and an unidentified man, barged into Choudhary's house just before midnight, threw acid on them and escaped.

"They were rushed to the Yashoda Hospital in Nanded where their condition is stated to be serious but stable," police told IANS.

Choudhary is working as a Purna-based district correspondent with Solapur Tarun Bharat newspaper.

Narayan Karanjkar, the editor of the publication, said the attack was instigated by Sayed Ali and his accomplices after Choudhary wrote a scathing article on the gutka mafia operating in and around Parbhani.

"All local media organisations have condemned the incident. Journalists from Marathwada region will take out a procession here Saturday to express solidarity with Choudhary," Karanjkar told IANS.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai state Home Minister R.R. Patil took serious note of the incident and directed the Parbhani district police to provide protection to the family.

Following Choudhary's complaint, police said a case has been registered against Sayed Ali 'Don' and other "unknown" people.

Purna town is 580 km from Mumbai in Marathwada region.