Mumbai: Republic TV Journalist Alleges He Was Assaulted By ‘Goons’ From NDTV, ABP
Shikha Chaurasia & Karishma Jha
Mumbai, September 24, 2020: Reporters from many channels thronged outside the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) office in Mumbai to report the news on Simone Khambatta today.
However, things got a little out of hand when a heated argument between the reporters turned into a brawl. The video of the incident went viral on social media platforms like Twitter and WhatsApp.
According to the video on social media, a heated exchange amongst reporters from Republic TV, NDTV and ABP resulted in one of the reporters slapping Pradeep Bhandari, a journalist from Republic TV.
The journalists are saying that reporters were handling the tripods on the sidewalk when Bhandari said that these reporters are the ‘depression patients’, while rotating the camera on everyone else. “They are journalists for tea biscuits who will not show you the real news, we will show the news”, Bhandari reportedly said.
On this, NDTV reporter said that you are spoiling our frame. The second reporter said, ” Do Reporting, and speak your language carefully.” The republic journalist said abusive words and after hearing this, the other reporters also came. There was fierce argument and abuses followed.
Pradeep Bhandari later said that he was assaulted by ‘goons’ from NDTV and ABP. He tweeted later, “जानते है महाराष्ट्र में सच बोलने की क़ीमत क्या है? कार्टेल के नामी-गिरामी चेहरे जैसे-जैसे एक्सपोज़ हो रहे है, उनका ग़ुस्सा और बढ़ता जा रहा है।जब पुलिस से भी काम नहीं बना तो आज NDTV और ABP के गुंडे पत्रकारों को मेरे पास हाथपाई करने भेज दिया। लेकिन मैं टूटने वालों में से नहीं हूँ”
However, Saurabh Gupta, a reporter from NDTV denied Bhandari’s claim and tweeted, “In the face of serious provocation, abuse and misbehaviour from another channel’s representative, the NDTV crew at the spot responded calmly, with no violence or aggression as alleged by Pradeep Bhandhari. The video he himself has tweeted clearly establishes this.”
Mumbai Police came on the spot and tried to ward off reporters and stopped the scuffle between them.
