Journalist objects to minister’s bodyguards passing lewd remarks on wife, beaten up

Srinagar: A journalist was allegedly beaten up by guards of PDP minister Ghulam Nabi Lone in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.

According to reports, the minister stood silently, watching the assault.

The journalist, Javed Malik, says he was brutally beaten up by the guards after he objected to them passing derogatory remarks on his wife.

“I have filed a complaint with the police because I was beaten at the minister's behest. My wife and I were going to buy vegetables from the local market when the Agriculture Minister's motorcade started honking relentlessly at Bagh-e-Mehtab. I allowed the motorcade to passage as soon as possible," Malik said.

The journalist with 'Greater Kashmir' newspaper alleged that some guards of Lone, who was sitting in one of the vehicles, picked up an argument with him, saying he had taken too much time in giving passage to the motorcade.

"As they were leaving, one of the guards passed lewd remarks at my wife. I chased the Minister's motorcade to bring it to his notice," Malik said.

He claimed that as he walked towards Lone's vehicle to bring the matter to his notice, the guards pounced on him and thrashed him.

"The guards were so rude. They kept on beating me despite my wife pleading before them," Malik said.

Read: SC notice to Centre, UP govt on plea seeking CBI probe

The assault came shortly after the Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and Uttar Pradesh government on a plea seeking CBI probe into the alleged murder of a journalist Jagendra Singh by setting him afire in Shahjahanpur district in which an SP minister and five others have been booked.

Jagendra was allegedly set on fire by police officials during a raid at his house on June 1 and he succumbed to the injuries on June 8.

An FIR was registered against UP Minister Ram Murti Singh Verma and five cops on the basis of a complaint by Jagendra's son Raghvendra after the journalist passed away during treatment at a hospital in Lucknow.

Read: Madhya Pradesh journalist set on fire by mining mafia

In another case, a 40-year-old local journalist was allegedly murdered by three persons involved in illegal mining, who kidnapped him and set him ablaze apparently over his refusal to withdraw a court case in Madhya Pradesh.

The burnt body of Sandeep Kothari, who was abducted from Katangi tehsil in Balaghat district two days back, was found dumped in a farm at Butibori area in Nagpur on Saturday night.