Fourth Estate under attack: UP and Bihar register most attacks against journalists, says govt

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have registered the highest number of cases, 63 and 22, respectively against various persons for attacking journalists during 2014, Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Chaudhary said on Tuesday. Overall, 114 cases were registered and 32 persons were arrested for attacking media-persons, he said. [caption id=“attachment_2651152” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] In a written reply to Lok Sabha, Chaudhary said National Crime Records Bureau has started collecting data on attack on media-persons under grievous hurt category since 2014. Data on attack on journalists is not maintained separately, the Minister said. “As per available data, a total of 114 cases were registered and 32 persons were arrested under attack on media person (grievous hurt) during 2014. “The Press Council of India takes prompt action on receipt of specific complaints from affected persons,” he said. As per the data given by him, a total of 63 cases were registered in Uttar Pradesh, 22 in Bihar, seven in Madhya Pradesh and five in Maharashtra. As many as four persons were arrested in UP, three in Bihar, ten in MP and six in Maharashtra, he said. There were four such cases registered in Andhra Pradesh, three each in Gujarat and Jharkhand, two each in Assam and Tripura, and one each in Meghalaya, Odisha and Uttarakhand, the data said. PTI