Even as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee cried “conspiracy” by a section of the media against her regime, a senior photojournalist (name withheld to save his modesty) gave the following account of torture he faced at the hands of the armed Trinamool goons near Bhawani Bhawan barely a km away from Banerjee’s official residence even as he went to click the photographs of how they had literally taken control of the Government facility earmarked for filing of electoral nominations.
Thus said he, “I was clicking some snaps at the gates of admi-nistrative building. I felt secured as the area is heavily policed. Suddenly some people charged at me and asked me to delete the photographs I had taken. “When I asked them about the reason they simply dragged me out from the midst of policemen who simply looked the other way. They beat me with punches and sticks, kicked me, snatched my camera. “First they took me to the adjacent Government building. From there they dragged me inside a small hutment; all this while raining blows on me from all sides. I was feeling like I will fall unconscious.
“Suddenly then a man directed me to take out my shirt. I complied the orders like a robot does. Then they asked me to take off my vest which I could not help doing. Then someone asked me to remove my trouser. I was aghast! (the veteran pressman’s voice trembled). When I pleaded with them to let me off at that and not play with my modesty. “Someone from the crowd said ‘if you don’t follow our orders then we will take pleasure in doing the same with our own hand and then post your pics on the net. Then only you will understand the consequence of raising your head against us. After today no one in Bengal will dare raise one’s head against us.’ “I was at a loss to understand who was meant by the term ‘US’. I had bruises all over my person but they gave me less pain than what was being done to me.” “Then I was almost on the verge being denuded when some fellow journalists rushed in and yanked me out of the turmoil…”