A journalist with a vernacular newspaper, Sandeep Mahajan, was beaten up by a group of individuals in broad daylight in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district on Wednesday. However, it came to light only on Thursday after a video of the incident went viral on social media. Opposition leaders alleged that the assault on the journalist was “orchestrated” by local Shiv Sena MLA Kishor Patil’s ‘goons.’ In the video, Mr. Mahajan is seen being dragged off his two-wheeler and physically assaulted by unidentified individuals.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, Nationalist Congress Party working president Supriya Sule and several others condemned the attack and urged the State government to take action against the perpetrators.
Mr. Patil, however, refuted these allegations, denying any involvement with the incident that occurred in the Pachora area of Jalgaon.
Recently, Mr. Mahajan had reported about a case of rape and murder of a minor girl in the district and criticised Chief Minister Eknath Shinde over the incident. A viral audio clip captured Pachora legislator Patil purportedly using abusive language directed at the journalist.
Non-cognisable offence
Based on a complaint lodged by the journalist, the Pachora police have registered a non-cognisable offence against three-four persons under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace) and 506 criminal intimidation of the Indian Penal Code and a probe is on. A notice was issued to the suspects.
“”Will the Chief Minister and Home Minister show courage to take action against Patil,” Mr. Wadettiwar asked.
“It is now clear what happens to the common man in a State where the voice of journalists is suppressed and they are beaten up. The journalist had raised questions and sought justice for an eight-year-old girl who was raped and murdered. Mr. Mahajan’s reporting of the incident irked Mr. Patil and the latter abused him in filthy language,” the Congress leader said. Ms. Sule echoed similar sentiments, denouncing the attack as undemocratic and questioned the silence of the State’s Home Minister and demanded swift action against the attackers and their supporters.
“It is anti-democratic and a very serious matter, where goons are sent to beat up a journalist for asking difficult questions to the Chief Minister of the State. It is the right of the journalists to ask questions, and it is unfortunate if such right is taken away from them,” she posted on the microblogging platform X (formerly known as Twitter). Mr. Raut alleged that Mr. Mahajan was brutally attacked by members of the ‘Shinde faction’ under Mr. Patil. “Law and order in the State has deteriorated so much. I think Maharashtra is going the Manipur way,” he added.
