Guwahati: Reporters instigated mob, says RTI activist

Guwahati: RTI activist Akhil Gogoi today alleged that a journalist who filmed the a girl here on Monday night on his mobile had ‘instigated’ it, but the news channel he belonged to denied it as ‘baseless’. Gogoi who screened the video at the Guwahati Press Club alleged that the news channel journalist filming it was later joined by a colleague to whom he was heard saying that he had ‘organised the incident’. Gogoi alleged that the second journalist was heard saying that the girl had been ruined to which the first replied that it was ‘he who had urged them to do so’. [caption id=“attachment_377843” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  screengrab: Guwahati attackers[/caption] Claiming that he had secured the raw footage, the RTI activist alleged that the news channel during telecast edited out these portions. “We have submitted a CD with the entire footage to the DGP Jayanta Narayan Choudhury and urged him to take action and he has assured us that the police will look into the matter,” Gogoi said. Managing Editor of the news channel Syed Zarir Hussain told PTI that Gogoi’s allegations were baseless. “A journalist of the channel happened to be present at the spot when the incident broke out and he began recording it and called the office for a camera team,” Hussain said. “Gogoi has acquired the video from our channel and we have never denied that our journalists were not present on the spot,” Hussain said. “The video footage makes it clear that both the journalists of the channel not only tried to protect the girl, but also called the police for help,” Hussain said. “It is indeed a tragedy that instead of demanding the arrest of the culprits, Gogoi is making such baseless allegations,” he said. President of the Electronic Media Forum Association Nava Thakuria, however, claimed that the video presented before the media was not the raw footage, but an edited version. “It can be doctored or tampered with and so we request Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi to send it for forensic tests,” he said. “We are thankful to Gogoi for presenting us with documentary evidence on the role of the journalist in the incident, but we will not take any action against him now till the evidence proves to be conclusive,” Thakuria said. PTI