Two held for attempting to murder Tamil news channel journalist

Coimbatore: Two people were arrested on Thursday for attempting to murder a TV journalist near his residence at K Krishnapuram near Palladam in Tirupur district on Wednesday night.S Nesaprabhu, 30, the journalist working with a Tamil news channel, is battling for life with more than 60 cut injuries at a private hospital in Coimbatore.The Kamanaickenpalayam police arrested G Praveen, 27, of Soorampatti in Erode district, and B Saravanan, 23, of KVR Nagar in Tirupur, on charges of attempting to murder Nesaprabhu.Preliminary inquiry revealed that Nesaprabhu had previous enmity with Sabari Vijay, a kingpin of a sex racket.Police said Nesaprabhu had made multiple phone calls to the Kamanaickenpalayam police station from Wednesday afternoon after after tracing some unidentified men's movements near his residence.Recorded audio clips of Nesaprabhu conversing with a cop from Kamanaickenpalayam station were widely circulated on social media.A colleague of the journalist said Nesaprabhu contacted the police control room over the phone and informed them about unidentified men following him in vehicles without registration number plates.A cop from the local police station had contacted Nesaprahbu over the phone and sought further details. Nesaprabhu had asked the cop to send a police team to his residence for safety.When Nesaprabhu was travelling towards a petrol station in his car on Wednesday night, Praveen, Saravanan, and a few others intercepted and attacked him with knives. The gang managed to escape in a car and a motorcycle.Police said Nesaprabhu suffered severe cut injuries on his left hand and sustained multiple cut injuries on his leg, head, and chest. He was rushed to the Palladam government hospital and later to a private hospital in Coimbatore.Meanwhile, chief minister MK Stalin condemned the attack against the journalist and announced Rs 3 lakh as compensation under the Journalist Welfare Board. In a statement issued on Thursday, Stalin said stringent action would be taken against those involved in the murder attempt. He also ordered police officers to send the Kamanaickenpalayam police inspector on compulsory wait.Former chief minister O Panneerselvam, MDMK general secretary Vaiko, CPM state secretary K Balakrishnan, PMK leader Dr Anbumani Ramadoss, Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi general secretary ER Eswaran, AMMK leader TTV Dhinakaran and Tamil Maanila Congress (M) leader GK Vasan condemned the attack on Nesaprabhu.Union minister of state for fisheries L Murugan and state minister for information and publicity MP Saminathan visited the injured journalist at the private hospital in Coimbatore.