JD (U) MP and his men abuse and hit two scribes in Bhagalpur

Bihar Prime Minister, NITIH KUMAR | Photo credit: PTI

Before the planned visit of the Friday of Bihar Minister, Niten Kumar, to Bhagalpur, the deputy of Bhagalpur of his party, Ajay Mandal, and his men allegedly abused and brutally hit two local journalists at the city airport on Wednesday ( January 29, 2025). The injured scribes, Kunal Shekhar and Summit Kumar, were admitted to the hospital and their phones were not only seized but restored.

“We had reached the field of the airport that was on a maximum alert for a drill in view of the next visit of the main minister to the district on February 1 and we, the journalists gathered, suddenly saw the SUV of the local MP JD-U local entering the Place, but the MP was not sitting inside. But we continue and later in a matter of minutes, the deputy also arrived at the scene and began to abuse and hit us brutally, ”said a local journalist who works for a news channel, who did not want to be identified, he said The Hindu by phone.

Telephone eliminated videos

Another journalist who works for a Vernácula Vindi newspaper, who is also president of the district photopperiours association, echoed his account, adding that the telephones of the injured journalist had been seized and renovated. When Tilkamanjhi police tried to return the phones of injured journalists, they refused to accept the devices since they had been “formatted and several of their outbreaks were eliminated,” the journalists added. “We refuse to recover the formatted phones sets from which several of the videos of our history were eliminated,” said a local journalist present at the event.

The abuse and beating of the scribes can be seen and listened clearly in a video of the incident that has gone viral on social networks.

Media resentment

The injured journalists were initially admitted to the city government hospital, but then were referred to the largest governmental hospital in Mayaganj. “We will get a FIR one against the MP JD-U and its men with medical injury reports,” said the local journalist of the news channel. “There is great resentment among Bhagalpur journalists after the incident and a large number of them were present at the Mayaganj Hospital on Wednesday night demanding a strict action against the barbarian deputy,” said another journalist to The Hindu.

When the two-time MP Bhagalpur JD-U was contacted in his official number for this correspondent, the man on the phone joked: “MP Saheb is in the field and cannot talk to you now”, before cutting the connection. The deputy of Bhagalpur, Mr. Mandal, has also been three times MLA in the state assembly. Tilkamanjhi police said: “Journalists refused to recover their mobile phones and FIR has not yet presented on the incident.”

‘Condemnable act’

The MLA of the Bhagalpur Congress, Ajit Sharma, who is also the leader of the party at the state assembly, asked the CM to take measures against MP JD (U). “This incident has embarrassed the parliamentarians and the MLA of the country. The prime minister continues to stripping about good governance in the state, and requests CM Nithis Kumar to take severe measures against the deputy of his party for his condemnable act against the media. I have seen the video in which [the journalists] They are brutally abused and beaten, ”he said.

The prime minister is currently in a Pragati Yatra, and will be in Katihar on January 30. The fourth phase of his yatra is scheduled to start in Bhagalpur as of February 1. It is scheduled to cover seven districts during this phase from February 1 to 11.