A Bhartiya Janta Party leader allegedly assaulted a journalist in Kathua on Thursday while his colleague, a woman, was also manhandled, The Wire reported.
The accused Narayan Dutt Tripathi, who is a District Development council member of BJP for Kathua, was caught on camera coming out of his SUV before allegedly attacking the two victims.
According to the report, the incident took place in the Ramkot area of Kathua when one of the victims, identified as Dimple Verma, was interviewing the Congress leader Dr. Manohar Lal Sharma. He was accompanied by a woman colleague, cameraperson Meenu Verma. The two work with Dainik Shiv Times, a Hindi newspaper based in Jammu.
Dimple speaking to The wire said that he was interviewing Sharma, a former minister in the Jammu Kashmir cabinet about development in Jammu Kashmir and the claims made by BJP leaders when Tripathi appeared at the scene with two associates.
“First, he snatched the camera from Meenu. Then, without realizing that it was still running, he turned to me and started punching and kicking me mercilessly, even though I kept telling him that I was only doing my duty,” Dimple told The Wire.