Quarry owners booked for assaulting cameraman of TV news channel near Coimbatore

The Kinathukadavu police in Coimbatore district booked three quarry owners on the charges of assaulting the cameraman of a Tamil news channel on Wednesday.

The Kinathukadavu police in Coimbatore district booked three quarry owners on the charges of assaulting the cameraman of a Tamil news channel on Wednesday.

The police said a case had been registered against quarry owners Sivaprakasam, Muthukumar and Udayakumar for the assault on M. Balaji, 30, cameraman of ‘News Tamil 24x7’ channel.

Mr. Balaji, along with reporter Arun Kumar, went to the stone quarries near Kinathukadavu on Wednesday afternoon for the coverage of a report on quarrying. The quarry owners assaulted Mr. Balaji and pushed him. He fell on rubble, suffering an injury on the back of his head. They also intimidated the cameraman and the reporter, the police said.

Members of the public, who noticed the assault, alerted the 108 ambulance service, and Mr. Balaji was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital, Pollachi. He was later shifted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.

A police officer said the three quarry owners were booked for offences under Sections 294 b (obscene acts and songs), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (i) (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. They were at large, the officer said.

The Coimbatore Press Club condemned the attack on the cameraman and appealed to the State government to bring in legislation for the safety of journalists.

A section of journalists staged a protest in front of the Collectorage condemning the attack late on Wednesday and petitioned Coimbatore District Superintendent of Police V. Badrinarayanan. The SP assured them of taking action against the assailants. Journalists submitted another petition to District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati on Thursday morning and appealed to him to ensure the safety of media persons.