Attack on Latehar journalist Surendra Gupta is condemnable, strict action should be taken against the culprits - Devanand Sinha

Ranchi, Jharkhand.

An emergency meeting of the state unit of the Indian Journalist Association was held at the central office in Dhurva under the chairmanship of state president Devanand Singh. The meeting condemned the attack on journalist Surendra Gupta in Balumath, Latehar. The association expressed serious concern over the incident and demanded immediate and strict action against the culprits.

Earlier in this regard, a delegation of the Press Club submitted a memorandum to Deputy Development Commissioner (DDC) Syed Riyaz Ahmed in the name of the Deputy Commissioner. The memorandum said that the administration will have to take concrete steps regarding the safety of journalists so that such an incident does not recur in future.

The DDC condemned the incident and assured that the matter will be investigated impartially and action will be taken against the culprits soon. He said that journalists always remain active and inform the society about the truth and the district administration will not tolerate such incidents at all.

At the same time, Madhu Sinha, National Secretary Women's Wing of Indian Journalist Association said that it is necessary to implement Journalist Security Act in Jharkhand so that such incidents do not recur. State President Devanand Sinha also expressed concern and said that incidents of attack on journalists are increasing continuously in the state, which is an attack on the freedom of the fourth pillar of democracy.

State Secretary Vijay Dutt Pintu said that journalists are the mirror of the society, who show the truth to the public. He demanded strict action against the culprits of the said incident from the Jharkhand government.

Senior journalist Bhagwan Tiwari, senior journalist Naval Kishore Singh, Asadur Rahman, Rafi Sami, Vipin Kumar Singh, Munna Kapri, Sujit Kumar Sinha, Atif Khan, Kajal Mehta, Saddam Hussain, Sheraji Rahmani and others were present on this occasion.