S. Nesaprabhu, 30, a journalist of the News 7 Tamil television channel, is fighting for his life after a gang attacked him near his home in Tiruppur district late on Wednesday. He sustained 62 cut injuries.
The attack took place despite his making several distress calls to the police.
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The police on Thursday arrested two members of the gang: G. Praveen, 27, of Surampatti in Erode, and B. Saravanan, 23, of KVR Nagar in Tiruppur.
“The police are verifying the statements of the two suspects and the reasons they cited for the assault,” a senior police officer said.
The assailants, who came in several cars, surrounded and attacked Mr. Nesaprabhu even as he was on a call with the police frantically pleading for help. The police had earlier failed to respond to several calls made by him for protection.
The police suspect that at least seven persons were involved in the attack.
Mr. Nesaprabhu, of K. Krishnapuram near Palladam, had made multiple calls to the local police station since Wednesday afternoon, after finding unidentified men tailing him and keeping a watch on his house. The victim, the Palladam area reporter for the news channel for the past seven years, was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore, following the brutal attack around 8.45 p.m. His colleagues said the distance from Mr. Nesaprabhu’s house to the Kamanaickenpalayam police station is about 2 km, whereas the assault took place less than 1 km from the police station.
According to the recorded audio clips of his conversations with policemen of the Kamanaickenpalayam station, which were widely circulated on social media, Mr. Nesaprabhu first alerted the police control room to the unidentified men who came in vehicles without number plates and enquired about him in the locality. After being alerted by the control room, a policeman from the local station contacted the journalist for further details. Mr. Nesaprabhu informed him that unidentified men enquired about him at a shop in the locality on Wednesday noon and continued to watch him. The men also stood near his house for a long time, according to the telephone conversations.
At a point when the journalist requested that a police party be sent to his house, a policeman asked him to come to the station and file a complaint. The assailants followed him when Mr. Nesaprabhu later came out of the house and headed to a public place in his car. The men assaulted him with machetes and knives near a fuel station as he was pleading with a policeman for protection on the phone.
Police sources said he suffered severe injuries on the left hand, besides multiple cuts on the head, the chest and the leg. He was rushed to a hospital at Palladam and then shifted to a private hospital in Coimbatore. Minister for Information and Publicity M.P. Saminathan visited Mr. Nesaprabhu at the hospital on Thursday. and said his condition was improving. The police have apprehended two suspects, said the Minister, who also He also handed over a cheque for ₹3 lakh to his family members. Union Minister of State for Fisheries L. Murugan too visited the journalist.
Journalist organisations and political party leaders have condemned the attack and sought action against the assailants as well as the police who failed to ensure Mr. Nesaprabhu’s safety.
