Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Security staff barred India Today Group reporters from the Assam Assembly session today. Despite possessing valid press credentials, the journalists were ordered to vacate the premises. The confrontation escalated rapidly. India Today reporter Hrijoy Das Kanungo challenged the order and was physically attacked by Moon Goswami, a member of the Assembly press committee.
Assailants seized Kanungo’s phone and deleted his video documentation of the attack. Others present joined in, hurling verbal abuse and issuing threats of further violence. Bhaben Dutta, who heads the press committee, led the physical assault against the reporter. The incident occurred while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma delivered a speech inside the chamber. Authorities claimed the reporters held illegal passes, but failed to provide an official explanation for the sudden entry ban.
Hrijoy Das Kanungo described the experience while attempting to do his job. "India Today reporter Hrijoy Das Kanungo, who protested against what he described as the unauthorised denial of entry, was physically assaulted by Moon Goswami, a member of the Assembly press committee," the report noted. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika remained unreachable as he was inside the session. India Today staff have faced repeated access restrictions since Speaker Ranjeet Kumar Dass assumed his position earlier this year.
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