Nearly 100 cadre of the DMK went on rampage and bashed up journalists and camera crew in front of the residence of MK Stalin, the party’s heir apparent, on Sunday evening. Two TV journalists belonging to Times Now channel were injured while the DMK cadre destroyed a camera belonging to the Headlines Today channel.
Jayaprakash, the Times Now cameraman has been admitted to a hospital with injuries. Doctors attending to him said he is out of danger. Shabeer Ahmed, the livewire reporter of Times Now suffered cuts on his face. “I do not know what provoked them. We had telecast the statement of MK Alagiri describing Stalin’s move to resign his official positions in the party a drama. The attack could be a fallout of this statement by Alagiri,” Ahmed told The Pioneer.
Meanwhile, Karunanidhi who came to the party headquarters in the evening blamed the media for spreading lies about his party. “There was no resignation of Stalin. A section of the media is spreading all kinds of false information. The DMK lost the elections because of this ,” alleged Karunanidhi.
His denial about Stalin’s resignation came after Durai Murugan, a senior leader of the DMK telling the media that Stalin had submitted his resignation letter to Karunanidhi.
R Rangaraj, president, Madras Reporters Guild, one of the oldest media organisations in the south, condemned the attack on journalists by the DMK workers and demanded immediate arrest of the concerned people. He said the DMK workers chased away journalists who were following the demonstration by them in front of the residence of Stalin.