Five media outlets in Tripura attacked

AGARTALA: At least four media houses — PB 24, Pratibadi Kalam, Kalmer Shakti and

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and two CPM party offices in the city — were ransacked and torched allegedly by miscreants from an unauthorised rally of ruling BJP, which was led by BJP vice-president Rajib Bhattacharjee and two secretaries, Tinku Roy and Papia Datta, on Wednesday evening, police told a media delegation.


Sub-divisional police officer Ramesh Yadav said they are analysing the

CCTV

footage and all the culprits will be booked as soon as possible. He made it clear that BJP was not given permission for holding the rally considering the law-and-order issue. However, the journalist bodies have given 12 hours to police to arrest the culprits, otherwise, media organisations would hit the streets seeking justice.

BJP activists also torched a local channel, Duranta TV of Udaipur in Gomati district, late in the evening and blocked fire tenders from reaching the spot, alleged editor of the channel Ayub Sarkar. Despite repeated attempts there was no response from either the district police authority or the local police station, he added.

BJP state

president Manik Saha argued that CPM workers threw stones and bricks from its West Tripura divisional office at the BJP rally, which triggered the violence. While retaliating, BJP cadres mistakenly entered the nearby building housing two newspapers and one TV channel and ransacked the office, he added. “The CPM headquarters and its mouthpiece

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office were attacked after the CPM attacked the BJP rally,” Saha said.