Agartala , Nov 25, 2024, TRIPURATIMES Desk

Agartala Nov 25: Photojournalist Sujit Acharjee, employed with an electronic media outlet in the state, was brutally assaulted by a group of miscreants on Sunday night.

Six people have been arrested in connection with the incident. The arrested individuals are Shubhrajit Debnath from Ramnagar Road No. 11, Ripon Das, resident of Joynagar Dashami Ghat area, Ajay Deb from Khayerpur Chandpur area, Monty Malakar from Hapania area, Santu Roy and Bapan Das from Bhattapukur area.

Briefing the details, victim Sujit Acharjee recounted that he had gone to the Malaynagar Bypass area on Sunday to broadcast the Anukul Thakur festival, live. After the broadcast ended around midnight, he packed up and waited for his car. When the car finally arrived after a long wait, Sujit questioned the driver about the delay, which agitated the driver. However, Sujit then loaded his equipment into the car and headed home.

Later, upon reaching the Siddhashram area, the driver, accompanied by 5 to 6 youths in an Eco vehicle, hit the back of Sujit's bike, causing him to fall. The driver and the youths then beat Sujit severely with iron rods, helmets and other tools.

Locals witnessed the attack and intervened, eventually handing the assailants over to the police. Sujit was taken to the hospital with injuries to his head and body.

Following the incident, Sujit filed a case with the police. The police arrested the six accused youths and registered a case against them under specific sections. The arrested individuals are currently held at Amtali police station, and an investigation is underway.

Reacting to the incident of attack, members of Tripura Photojournalist Association, on Monday, visited Amtali police station, demanding strict punishment for the culprits.

The Tripura Working Journalists Association also expressed deep concern over the increasing attacks on journalists and strongly condemned the assault on Sujit Acharjee.

They called for the safety of journalists to be ensured and demanded strict punitive action against those involved in the attack.

Further, in response to the attack, journalists staged a dharna on the road leading to Amtali police station and later spoke to the Additional SP, seeking justice for Sujit Acharjee.

Senior Journalist and Editor, Headlines Tripura, Pranab Sarkar strongly condemned such episodial incidents of attack on Journalists and media persons across the state. He said, “This is not the first time. Few days back, a similar incident of attack was reported, that too in the state capital. We believe the miscreants were more in number and some of them managed to flee the scene. I urge the police administration to take stern action and set an example so that such incidents are not repeated in the future”.

“Who will safeguard the late-night workers in the city”? questioned senior journalist Sanit Debroy as he spoke to the reporters from the protest spot.

Mentioning that injured photojournalist Sujit Acharjee had undergone a major operation less than a month back, Debroy alleged that there is no proper patrolling in the city during the night. This puts security and safety of common people under question.

Meanwhile, answering the questions of the agitating journalists, Additional SP (Urban) Chiranjib Chakraborty assured necessary action in the case.

“A major force was engaged with the festival in the area and perhaps this is the reason we failed to look into the matters at the incident spot, near Siddhiashram”, he said.

He added that police are investigating the entire incident and proper action will be taken against the culprits as per law.