Four miscreants thrash Mumbai journalist Herman Gomes outside his home; police investigation underway

Mumbai: A television journalist was injured when a group of unidentified people allegedly assaulted him near his house in south Mumbai early Sunday, police said. Herman Gomes, working with a private TV channel, was returning home along with a friend in a taxi late Saturday night. When he got out of the cab around 1.30 am on Sunday, he saw four to six persons waiting near his house in Gamdevi area, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone-II) Dnyaneshwar Chavan told PTI. The journalist, in a Facebook post gave a detailed account of the incident.

The persons started abusing Gomes and later allegedly assaulted him, Chavan said. The journalist was injured in the assault and based on his complaint, the Gamdevi police later registered a case under IPC sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting), 324 (voluntary causing hurt by dangerous weapons) and other relevant provisions, he said. The motive behind the attack was not yet known, he said, adding an investigation was underway into the case. Journalists’ associations in the city condemned the attack and alleged that police did not file the victim’s complaint promptly. The Mumbai Press Club termed the attack on Gomes as a “dastardly act”. An association of crime reporters in the city, in a statement, demanded immediate arrest of the assailants. It urged Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take action against the police officers who allegedly delayed registration of the FIR in the matter.