New Delhi, 29 June 2021: The Indian Journalists Union condemns the beating up of journalist Pateshwari Singh, bureau chief of Bharat Connect newspaper and a city reporter for Jan Sandesh Times,in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly by unidentified men for writing a news report against the State’s MLA. The Union demanded the FIR lodged against unidentified men should also include the name of the MLA and investigation be expedited so that the guilty are brought to book.

Apparently, Singh was headed home on his motorbike from Rakabganj area around 7.30 pm on Tuesday. A black SUV was parked roadside in front of Surendra Lawn and as he crossed it, the SUVroared to life and rammed his two-wheeler, throwing him off. Those inside the vehicle climbed out and started beating him up. Some locals rushed to his rescue. Singh claimed that he had been writing against his attackers, for which a false FIR had been filed against him earlier.Following the incident, a FIR was filed in Kolwali Police Station under sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In a statement, IJU President and former Member, Press Council of India, Geetartha Pathak and IJU Secretary General and International Federation of Journalists Vice President Sabina Inderjit said the attacks on journalists are rising and the government must ensure their safety. This attack, it noted follows the killing of Sulabh Srivastava, ABP News journalist earlier this month. A judicial inquiry into the incident of attack must be launched and the guilty must be punished as the attack appears to be in relation to critical news coverage about the MLA.