MANGALURU : The Mangaluru police released media persons taken into custody, while attempting to cover massive protests in the streets against new enacted Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), earlier in the day.
Pressure mounted from all quarters including Kerala administration, demanding release of the journalists detained by Mangulur police. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had contacted top brass in Karnataka, to ensure the men’s safety and move procedures for an immediate release.
The newsmen were picked from Venlock area in Mangaluru. The cops snatched their cameras and other equipments, intimidating them to stop coverage. The journalists at the time were engaged in reporting post-mortem proceedings of the two men, killed in police firing on Thursday.
The news crew forcibly taken to Mangaluru north police station included cameramen and reporters from Malayalam news channels – Mathrubhumi and 24 News.
According to sources, the cops at first allowed accredited journalists to remain amid protests but later changed their stand and roughened up to them. The reporters were positioned outside the mortuary. where the bodies of shootout victims were being autopsied, before they were whisked away.
