BARNALA, Punjab—Press reporters gathered outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office to protest against the attack by members of RSS and BJP on two reporters yesterday. These reporters were attacked in Barnala and despite there being a case registered against the culprits, the police has failed to take the required action.
These reporters were attacked because they had recently exposed the “wheat scam” by BJP leadership. They were asked by the police to meet with BJP leadership to discuss and settle the issue, however when they reached the spot, they were beaten mercilessly by goons. Two reporters – Jatinder Devgan and Himanshu Dua were critically injured.
The following leaders of the ruling party were named in the wheat scam – Gurmeet Bawa (BJP, Barnala President), Punjab Agriculture Inspector Ram Kumar Beas (also former RSS district chief) and Dheeraj Kumar (BJP, Faridkot).
The gathering was addressed by Raj Mahinder S. Sharma, Satish Sidhawani, Sukhcharanpreet Singh, Ashish Palko, Jagseer Singh Sandhu, Vivek Sidhwani, Jageer Singh, and Harinderpal Singh Nikka who threatened the authorities that if no arrests were made by May 5th, or if any sort of tampering of records were carried out, then the entire press community would boycott the civil law and police force in Barnala.
They alleged that its been 9 days since the incident happened and no arrests have been made so far. The continuance of the same attitude would evoke a strict demonstration by the reporters.
Regarding the case, a demand letter was submitted by the Reporter Action Committee to the Deputy Commissioner demanding the required action to be taken.
Many senior leaders gathered in large numbers to support the cause.
