Five media houses, CPM offices attacked in Tripura

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

Daily Desharkatha

, Duranta TV — and two CPM party offices here were ransacked and torched on Wednesday evening, allegedly by miscreants from an unauthorised rally of the ruling BJP, according to the police.

The rally was led by

BJP state

vice-president Rajib Bhattacharjee and two secretaries Tinku Roy and Papia Datta the police said.

Sub-divisional police officer Ramesh Yadav said the police were analysing

CCTV

footage and all the culprits would be booked soon. He said BJP was not given permission to hold the rally considering law-and-order issues. However, journalists’ bodies have given the police 12 hours to arrest the culprits else media organisations will hit the streets.

BJP activists also torched local channel Duranta TV’s office in Gomati, on Wednesday and blocked fire tenders from reaching the spot, alleged editor 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 at the BJP rally from their West

Tripura

divisional office. While retaliating, BJP cadres mistakenly entered a nearby building housing two newspapers and one TV channel and ransacked the office, he added.

“CPM headquarters and the office of its mouthpiece, ‘Daily Desherkatha’, were attacked after CPM attacked the BJP rally. However, I am not aware of Duranta TV,” Saha said. However, the Tripura government was yet to act even five hours after the attacks.

“Pratibadi Kalam” proprietor-editor Anal Roychoudhury alleged that with BJP leaders leading from the front, a group of cadres entered the

media house

, disconnected the CCTV connection, ransacked the office and snatched documents, besides abusing journalists in the presence of the officer in charge of West Agartala police station. Two journalists were injured.

They set two motorbikes and a vehicle of the media house on fire and took away a hard disk, he claimed. Later, they entered the CPM district office and set two vehicles on fire, Roychoudhury alleged.

The cadres also allegedly attacked CPM headquarters and the “Daily Desherkatha” office and set ablaze five vehicles and nine motorbikes. The CPM party office in Bishalgarh was also burnt down.

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