The Odisha Union of Journalists (OUJ) on Wednesday strongly condemned the police atrocity on photojournalist Subhendu Kanungo allegedly at the instance of Kantabanji BJD MlA Ayub Khan.
Kanungo was on March 6 lifted from Bhubaneswar by Kantabanji police from his Sailashree Vihar area on the charge of showing “misbehavior” to the MlA during a telephonic conversation on February 14. What is quite shocking and even surprising is that when the Kantabanji police took Kanungo to their custody from Bhubaneswar, neither his parents nor any relatives were informed about it which is a clear violation of a standing Supreme Court ruling. His employer Prayabekhyak, a leading Odia daily, was also not informed about his arrest. “As per Supreme Court ruling, parents and relatives of the person arrested must be informed by the police immediately. However, in the present instance, this procedure was not followed. Worse still, journalist Kanungo, who is suffering from multiple ailments, was taken in a private vehicle provided by Ayub Khan to Kantabanji. Until he reached Kantabanji police station, he was not informed about the reason of his arrest. This is again a violation of an individual’s fundamental rights,” alleged OUJ president Prasanna Mohanty.
Stating that the arrest of Kanungo smacks of a deep-rooted conspiracy to suppress the journalist, the OUJ demanded a high-level probe into the incident.
OUJ president Mohanty said the organization would draw the attention of the Press Council of India, the National Human Rights Commission and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on the issue, seeking justice for the aggrieved journalist.“We will explore every available avenues seeking justice for journalist Kanugo who was treated by the police like a professional criminal. Unless anything is done in seven days, the journalists across the State will observe black day and, if required, gherao the State Assembly,” cautioned Mohanty.
Among others, Paryabekhyak Editor Pabitra Mohan Samantaray, advocate Subrat Kumar Nanda, senior journalists, Kishore Mangaraj, Akshaya Sahoo and Parthasarathi Jena, were present.