Jibin George, an accused in several cases, was taken into custody in connection with the incident, police said.
(Representational image)Journalists from Punjab alleged officers from the Delhi Police misbehaved with them and illegally detained them for eight hours on Saturday while they were covering the Delhi elections in the Tughlaq Road police station area. The Delhi Police, however, denied the claims.
DCP (New Delhi) Devesh Mahala, in a post on his official X handle, wrote: “Few people tried to enter inside the B R Camp after midnight and locals of the camp confronted them regarding their identity and reason. We brought them (to the) police station for further verification since they were from outside Delhi and trying to enter after midnight.”
“After following due legal procedure and primary verification, they were freed. Further enquiry and verification into this matter are still on,” he said.
The journalists were from The Unmute, a Punjabi YouTube news channel with 243K subscribers.
The Unmute, in a post on X, wrote: “Our three reporters, en route to cover elections, were attacked by goons in Delhi. Yet, instead of acting against them, @DelhiPolice detained our reporters overnight. Such incidents undermine journalistic ethos. Strict action is needed.”
In a statement, the Information and Public Relations Department of Punjab said, “The Press Gallery Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha has taken strong cognizance of the dastardly incident in New Delhi yesterday, where journalists from the State of Punjab covering elections to the Delhi Vidhan Sabha were illegally kept at Tughlaq Road police station for eight hours by the Delhi Police.”
The Chandigarh Press Club too condemned the incident.
The Chairman of the Press Gallery Committee of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Ashwani Chawla, said the committee has filed a written complaint with the Chief Election Commissioner.
Chawla claimed the journalists discovered malpractices being committed by members of a political outfit, who were distributing liqour and other material to influence voters in complete contravention of the Model Code of Conduct.
“… the journalists started covering the above-said incident, which was objected to by unscrupulous elements…,” said the Information and Public Relations Department of Punjab in its statement.
The journalists informed Delhi Police. “… on reaching the spot, Delhi Police misbehaved with the journalists… took them into custody… This despite the fact that all journalists had ID proofs,” the statement added.
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