Two days after a media photographer was manhandled at Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s ‘Siddham’ public meeting in Rapthadu of Anantapur district, the media office of a prominent Telugu daily was ransacked, allegedly by YSRCP cadres, in Kurnool on Tuesday.
More than 50 members gathered in front of the office and raised slogans against the management for allegedly depicting the State Government and the ruling party in poor light. They burnt copies of the newspaper and made a bonfire on the main road.
Later, members of the group climbed the stairs to reach the first floor where the office was situated. Even as a couple of police constables tried in vain to pacify them, the YSRCP activists, carrying party flags in their hands, attempted to barge in. The office remained safe to some extent as the staff bolted the door from inside. However, the glasspanes on the windows were broken when a dozen persons hurled stones at the building.
Reacting on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh called it a continuation of the spate of attacks on the media, considered the fourth pillar of democracy. He alleged that Panyam MLA Katasani Rambhupal Reddy had instigated his followers to resort to the attack.
iMeanwhile, media organisations and journalist associations condemned the attack and police are yet to register a case.
