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Assam: AP photographer assaulted by students

February 06, 2012 20:44 IST

A section of borders from R K B Hostel of over a century-old Cotton College, a premier post-graduate institution in the North East on Monday engaged themselves in street brawl with a group of journalists and lensmen at Panbazar in the heart of the city.

It all started with a section of students roughing up the Associate Press photographer in the North East, Anupam Nath, following an altercation on the road after the students did not allow Nath's car to pass despite repeated honking by him.

As a peeved Nath came out of the car and rebuked the students for their unruly behaviour on the road, they started assaulting the senior lens man. On hearing about the incident a group of journalists and lens men rushed to the spot from the nearby Press Club and the situation turned ugly.

Nath called the police and identified some of his assailants before filing an FIR in Panbazar police station.

"When the police told me to identify the culprits among the boarders of the hostel, the students turned more belligerent and roughed up a few other scribes and photographers present at the spot," Nath said.

Meanwhile, Electronic Media Forum Assam has condemned the unprovoked attack by a section of students of Cotton College on some journalists on duty on Monday in Panbazar locality.

The EMFA urges the authorities (both the Cotton College and Assam Police) to take legal actions against those guilty students at the earliest.

In this unprovoked assault, many television journalists, who were on duty, also faced attacks. The Assam Photo Journalists' Association, the Journalists' Forum Assam and the National Federation of Newspaper Employees have also condemned the incident and demanded appropriate actions against those guilty students of this prestigious institution.

K Anurag in Guwahati