Election observers, along with the officials of the Revenue and Police Departments, conducted simultaneous raids on the houses of three journalists in the city on the intervening nights of the Monday and Tuesday, following complaints that huge money belonged to a political party was in the latters’ possession. The officials, however, did not find the money in the houses.
A team consisting of 15-members by an Election Observer raided the houses at around Monday midnight and the search continued till 3 a.m. on Tuesday. However, the scribes were embarrassed by these operations. “My daughter’s marriage is scheduled for this month-end. The team members literally ransacked my house and video-shoot the entire procedure,” said Durrani, reporter of a vernacular daily. “When I asked the officials for search warrant, they said no such warrants were issued during the election duty. Though they said sorry while leaving my house, the raid was a big embarrassment for me ,” said S. Sivannarayana Reddy, reporter of a Telugu news channel.
The journalists also met Collector and District Election Officer Neetu Prasad on Tuesday morning and sought action against the complainant. She, however, said that she could not take any action as it was part of the election duty.
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