Urgent meeting of District Journalists’ Association over police abuse of journalists
Koraput 20/08 Semiliguda
An urgent meeting of the Koraput District Press Association affiliated to OJJ was held on Wednesday in a hotel conference room in Semiliguda regarding the incident of two reporters being attacked by the police after the news of the contempt of court by the tehsil authorities, the reporters met the district police officer, DIG Koraput. In the meeting presided over by District President Shasadhar Raut, district adviser Ajay Sahu, National Press Council member Phillip Kumar Mohanty, editor Sharat Kumar Dhal, Tushar Kant Mohanty, Amitabh Behera, Kuruma Rao, and a large number of people from Zillar, Laxmipur, Patangi, Nandpur, Semiliguda, Sunabeda, Koraput, Damanyodi areas. Journalists were present. The two journalists present in the meeting, Katibas Pradhan and Basudev Barad, presented the details of how Sunabeda SDPO called the Semiliguda police station and insulted them. On the other hand, he accused them of being subjected to various kinds of harassment. Hearing this, the journalists present condemned and questioned how the police would treat the journalists in such a way, then how would they treat the general public. He expressed the opinion that such a strained relationship between the police and journalists is not beneficial for the society. President Mr. Raut and Adviser Mr. Sahu strongly condemned the behavior of the police towards the journalists. In the coming days, if there is no improvement in the behavior of the SDPO towards the journalists, the district journalists’ union has warned that it will hold a state-level agitation with its strong protest. A 5-member sub-committee comprising Ajay Sahu, Dilip Mohanty, Amitabh Behera, and Tusar Kant Mohanty has been formed under the leadership of district president Shasadhar Raut at the district level for the next day’s work.
Ranjit Khora’s report from Koraput district is fast news
Odisha