Dedicated, ready to take responsibility: Colleagues remember Doordarshan cameraman

New Delhi: DD (Doordarshan) News cameraman Achyutanand Sahu, who was killed in a Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh, was a go-getter with an inclination for challenging assignments, his colleagues said.

After the news of the death, his colleagues at DD News wore black bands even on air.

"He was a very dedicated cameraperson, ready to take on any responsibility given to him. He had done wide-ranging coverage of events outside Delhi," DD News Director General Mayank Agarwal told news agency PTI.

Many of his colleagues are still in shock. They recalled that he was always the first to volunteer for challenging assignments and had also been to Jammu and Kashmir for coverage.

Also Read: Doordarshan cameraman, 2 cops killed in Maoist attack in Chhattisgarh

Ajay Mishra, a senior correspondent at DD News and another colleague who had worked with him on a number of assignments, said: "When we got the news, we could not believe it. The camera assistant called and told us that there has been a Naxal attack and he has been killed point blank range."

"He used to say that 'I don't like being in the studio, want to go out on reporting assignments'. Recently, he doubled up as a reporter and a cameraperson during Sushma Swaraj's visit to the United Nations. You can call him a one man army, Mishra added.

The three-member Doordarshan team was in the Maoist-affected region for election coverage. The attack took place in the forests in Aranpur village in Dantewada.

"Our party had gone to the area for patrolling. The Doordarshan crew was with them," P Sunder Raj, DIG, Naxal Operation, said.