SP MLA 'attacks' Times Now crew in Shamli

SHAMLI: A Times Now crew, covering the death of an 8-year-old boy killed in celebratory firing, was allegedly attacked by Samajwadi Party MLA Nahid Hasan in Shamli on Monday. The crew was allegedly held hostage and forcefully made to delete the footage in their camera. Three arrests have been made in the death of the minor. Meanwhile, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav ordered the suspension of the inspector at Kairana town.Yadav also ordered disciplinary action against the SDM and deputy SP.
As soon as SP-supported candidate Nafisa was declared the winner in elections for head of the block at Kairana town in Shamli on Sunday, her supporters started firing in the air in celebration, allegedly in the presence of police. They then left the block office in a victory procession and continued firing in the air. On Monday, Times Now reporter Samia and cameraperson Mukesh Kumar visited the house of the 8-year-old to interview the bereaved family.
“At the boy’s house, we got bytes of his family members. We then went to the house of local MLA Nahid Hasan to get a quote from him. That is where we were attacked. He asked us to delete the footage that we had and when we refused to do so, the MLA tried to snatch my camera away. They threatened both of us with violence. They even took me away and held me hostage in a room for 30-45 minutes. I was forced to delete the footage. They were not satisfied till they had gone through my camera thoroughly and were convinced that the footage had been deleted. The entire incident took place around 1 pm,” Kumar told TOI.
Meanwhile, @CMOfficeUP, the official Twitter handle of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, tweeted, “#UPCM @yadavakhilesh instructs DGP to immediately suspend the police Inspector in the Shamli incident.”
Moments later, the handle tweeted again, “#UPCM @yadavakhilesh instructs CS to immediately to remove Shamli SDM/DYSP from the district & disciplinary action to be taken against them.”
Inspector general of police (Meerut Zone) Sujeet Pandey told TOI, “As far as the case of celebratory firing is concerned, we have already made three arrests. Furthermore, we have received instructions from the DGP to register an FIR if the cameraperson or reporter files one. If they don’t, we can take suo moto action. So far, an FIR has not been registered but we will act on the case regardless.”
The BJP lashed out at the state government. Former state BJP chief Laxmikant Bajpai said, “There seems to be no end to the Goonda Raj under Samajwadi Party rule. This will not end till this government is out of power. Now, they haven’t even spared the media. If the MLA is involved, the CM should take swift action. If he doesn’t, then it means he is complicit.”
(With inputs from Pankul Sharma and Sandeep Rai)