Journalist bodies condemn arrest of Republic Bangla reporter in Sandeshkhali

New Delhi/Kolkata: Journalist bodies on Tuesday voiced concern over the arrest of an on-duty television journalist by the West Bengal Police in trouble-torn Sandeshkhali.

In the national capital, the Press Association, the Editors Guild of India and the National Union of Journalists (India), in a statement, voiced concern over the journalist, Santu Pan, being whisked away by police personnel while he was reporting live on television.

Pan, a journalist with Arnab Goswami's Repulic Bangla, was arrested from Sandeshkhali late on Monday evening.

"His arrest while on duty is worrisome," the Guild said in a statement.

Members of the National Union of Journalists (India) (NUJI) and Delhi Journalists Association (DJA) condemned the arrest and announced an agitation against it. The NUJI and the DJA have demanded the immediate release of the arrested journalist.

The two journalist bodies were scheduled to stage a march from Jantar Mantar to Banga Bhawan, the office of the West Bengal Resident Commissioner in the national capital.

The Press Association and the Guild said the authorities have all the right to investigate allegations levelled against the journalist but to take him away while he was reporting is indeed a cause of concern.

"The Editors Guild calls on the administration in West Bengal to conduct a speedy inquiry and ensure that no injustice is done to Pan. The government must also do everything it can to protect freedom of the press," the statement said.

At a meeting in the national capital, the NUJI and DJA members said that the media was being strangled by imposing an undeclared emergency in West Bengal.

The Kolkata Press Club also condemned Pan's arrest and demanded his immediate release.

"We demand his immediate release. If there is any specific allegation against him, it is subject to investigation. But the Kolkata Press Club registers its protest against the arrest of an on-duty journalist," it said in a statement.

The police said the journalist was arrested following a complaint of barging into the residence of a local woman.

"We have arrested him based on a complaint filed by a woman in the Sandeshkhali area where she has alleged that this journalist had barged into her house when she was not properly dressed and started recording it," a senior police officer said.

Sandeshkhali in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district has been tense with a large number of women in the locality accusing Trinamool Congress strongman Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters of "land-grab and sexually assaulting" them under coercion.

Sheikh has been absconding since January 5 when a mob attacked Enforcement Directorate (ED) officers during a raid at his residence in connection with an alleged ration scam.

Two of Sheikh's aides, who along with others were booked under charges of gang rape and attempt to murder, have been arrested.