Pune Union of Working Journalists Meets Police Commissioner to Protest Naming of Journalist in COEP Case

Pune, 27th August 2026: The Pune Union of Working Journalists on Saturday met Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar to protest against the naming of a journalist in a case registered at Shivajinagar police station following a complaint lodged by the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP).

The journalist, a representative of ABP Majha, was named by the university for allegedly entering the college premises and interviewing a student who reportedly spoke about various issues faced by students in the college. The video interview had led to clashes between ABVP and NSUI after ABVP students allegedly forced the student to record an apology message on her allegations, following which NSUI students too entered the college premises leading to clashes, merely hours before the scheduled event of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’.

In a letter addressed to the Commissioner, the union stated that the main administrative officer of COEP, Raju Pachkor, had lodged a complaint at Shivajinagar police station regarding the incident that occurred on August 21, 2026, at the government engineering college in Shivajinagar. An FIR was registered on August 23.

The letter pointed out that the name of the ABP Majha representative was included in the FIR even though the journalist was not present at the college at the time of the incident when clashes between ABVP and NSUI were reported. “While registering the FIR, the police included the name of the ABP Majha representative without verification. We strongly object to this,” the union said.

The Pune Union of Working Journalists emphasised that COEP is a government institution and journalists routinely visit government offices and educational institutions for reporting. Including the name of a journalist or any person associated with the media after an incident is improper and amounts to an attack on the freedom of the press, the letter stated.

The union has demanded that the name of the ABP Majha representative be removed from the FIR. The letter was signed by union president Umesh Shelke and secretary Hira Sarode.