'Appropriate disciplinary action has been taken against the erring personnel,' says Dimapur Police
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 8
A journalist returning home after covering an event was subjected to physical assault and racial profiling by a Government Railway Police (GRP) officer in Dimapur on May 8, despite showing his Press ID Card.
At around 12 noon on Friday, Prasanjit Dutta, a reporter of Nagaland Page, saw that there was no barricade on the Dimapur Railway Station foot-over bridge from the side of the Hanuman Mandir and decided to use it to reach his home in Netaji Colony, near Railway Colony.
But towards the end of the bridge, where the bridge splits into two- one leading to the Railway platform, the other to the Railway Colony, two police officers stopped him and said that the bridge was sealed. On being asked if he had any identity card with him, he showed them his ID card issued by Nagaland Page.
Prasanjit then enquired if he would be allowed to go through the railway platform to reach home, following which the two officers informed him that the station was also sealed. However, they said that he could ask permission from the GRPF personnel on duty if he wanted to.
Subsequently, the reporter noticed three GRPF officers sitting near the platform and decided to ask them if they would allow him to use the platform.
When he approached the officers, one of them asked him for an identity card and he presented his press ID card.
But another officer began to aggressively question him on who told him to use the platform. The reporter tried to explain the situation and clarified that he was not trying to use the platform without permission, but the officer started slapping him without listening to his explanation.
“In the midst, he asked me if I was a Muslim. I told him I am a Bengali. He slapped me again and said whoever I might be, it was not my state and if I wanted to spread the virus, I should go to my own state and try it,” Prasanjit said in the complaint filed at the GRPS. He was slapped about six times.
A press conference was also called at the residence of Nagaland Page Editor Monalisa Changkija where she informed that the newspaper had accepted the “unconditional apology” tendered by the erring officer.
The Editor also said that the journalist was picked up from his home and detained by the Police despite the newspaper informing them that they would come to the Police Station on their own.
The officer apologized for the “use of inappropriate language and physical force on Prasanjit Dutta,” which has caused “undue physical and mental trauma to him.” “It is also admitted for the insensitive enquiry in Netaji colony following the incident,” the officer stated in the apology.
Meanwhile, Changkija maintained that the apology was accepted keeping in mind that this is a crucial time for the entire planet when we are all fighting to survive.
Right now, we should not lose focus on our purpose of defeating the virus, she said, adding that “the police, as frontline workers, ought to know who the real enemy is.”
A press release from the ADCP (Crime) &PRO, Dimapur Police also informed that “appropriate disciplinary action has been taken against the erring personnel.”
The assault did not bode well with the press fraternity of the state as Press Clubs from Kohima and Dimapur, including the Nagaland Press Association (NPA) demanded action against the erring officer.
The Dimapur Press Club stated that “on countless occasions, Nagaland police personnel have assaulted journalists in the state with impunity.” It further condemned the use of racial profiling against the journalist.
The Kohima Press Club meanwhile said that such unruly action, if not restrained, will detriment the freedom of the press. It called upon the State Government to take steps to enable the press to discharge their duties in a free and fair manner.
The NPA asked the Nagaland Government to direct the State Police not to impede the free functioning of the Press. It further pointed out that the Central and State governments have understood the significant role of media in the current time of crisis and had deemed it as part of essential services that needed to function during the lockdown.
The Indian Journalists Union (IJU) also demanded that the Nagaland Government respect the freedom of media especially at a time when journalists of the country are working relentlessly covering the situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. It demanded that the State government punish the officer involved in the incident.
