Tamil Nadu Police detained three journalists including a cameraman covering the black flag protest against the Rs 10,000 crore Chennai-Salem Greenfield Expressway project in Tiruvannamalai district on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu Police detained three journalists including a cameraman covering the black flag protest against the Rs 10,000 crore Chennai-Salem Greenfield Expressway project in Tiruvannamalai district on Tuesday.
Police detained Malayalam news channel Mathrubhumi’s reporter K Anoop Das, cameraman Murugan and car driver Razak along with CPI (M) mouthpiece Theekkathir’s reporter cum cameraman S Ramadoss and CITU district vice president V Anandan after they covered the hoisting of black flag in protest against the expressway project in CPI (M) party office.
The police detained the journalists even after they showed the identity cards and explained that they were merely covering the protest. DSP Sridhar who led the police team forcibly dragged them to the police vehicle and taken to the Tiruvannamalai Taluk police station. Their cameras, phones and the car used by Mathrubhumi was seized by the police.
Anoop Das told DNA that after covering a protest at the CPI (M) office, “we are walking towards the car to visit a nearby village around 12 pm when two policemen intercepted and told us that DSP wanted to meet us. As we went close to the police jeep, the police forcibly dragged us into the vehicle and took us to the Tiruvannamalai police station.” He said that the police manhandled him and they detained them even when they showed their identity cards.
After the reports of their detention flashed in Tamil and Malayalam news channels, Das said that the police took a copy of their identity cards and let him, cameraman and car driver go. “We were not given any reason for the detention at all,” he said. However, the Tamil daily reporter Ramadoss and CITU leader were still in the police detention.
Superintended of Police R Ponni said that the journalists were detained when they were searching for some other accused there. She said that they were let go once their identity was established.
The black flag protests were being held in five districts – Tiruvannamalai, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri and Kancheepuram - through which the 277 km long eight-lane expressway would be built.
Tamil Nadu Farmers Association (TNFA) along with various other outfits announced the black protest to coincide with the anniversary of the declaration of emergency in the country on June 26, 1975 to condemn the “undeclared emergency like situation” prevailing in Tamil Nadu with random arrests of activists and farmers protesting against the forcible land acquisition for the highway project.
In the Assembly, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami batted for the expressway project saying that it was being planned considering the future traffic in mind. He also blamed the media for exaggerating the protest by few farmers.
TNFA general secretary P Shanmugham condemned the police for detaining the journalists and also former CPI (M) MLA P Dilibabu at Chengam in Tiruvannamalai. He said that police did not even allow the farmers and the public to express their protest in a peaceful way by hoisting black flags in their homes and lands. “In various places, the police themselves had removed the black flags hoisted at the homes,” he said declaring that the protest against the land acquisition would continue.
The detention of the journalist comes in the wake of the case filed against Tamil news channel Puthiya Thalaimurai, one of its journalist and two panellists – director Ameer and MLA U Thaniyarasu – following a ruckus at a roundtable debate organised by the channel in Coimbatore on June 8 in connection anti-Sterlite protest. The state government-owned Arasu Cable TV corporation which covers 60 per cent of the 1.5 crore homes with cable television has suddenly pushed the Tamil Channel to 499th slot from 124th and in some places, it was removed from Tamil cluster of channels and moved to other language clusters.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "jail file photo")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}