TV
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) took suo motu cognizance of an incident involving the alleged assault of a journalist in Odisha’s Bolangir district on Friday.
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Issuing a notice to the Director General of Police (DGP)-Odisha, the NHRC has sought a detailed report within two weeks.
In a troubling incident in Kulthipali village of Bolangir, journalist Bijay Pradhan was earlier allegedly tied up and physically assaulted while on assignment collecting information. He was attacked by contractor Gajendra Dalai with the assistance of some locals.
Accused and his aides arrested
After images and videos of the event surfaced on social media, Bolangir Police launched an investigation, leading to the arrest of Gajendra and four other accused individuals.
“The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), India has taken suo motu cognizance of a media report that a TV journalist was physically assaulted by a group of people in Kulthipali village in Bolangir district, Odisha on 25th May, 2025. Reportedly, he was suddenly attacked by the miscreants when he went to a construction site in the village, regarding which the people are making allegations of corruption. The victim's legs and hands were tied, and he was paraded through the village before being tied to a pole and mercilessly beaten,” the NHRC notice issued in this regard mentioned.
The Commission observed that the contents of the news report raise a serious issue of violation of the human rights of the victim journalist. Therefore, it has issued a notice to the DGP calling for a detailed report on the matter within two weeks.
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According to the media report, published on 26th May, 2025, the victim's mobile phones and video camera were also smashed by the perpetrators, and he was threatened not to report anything about the incident or the ongoing construction work to anyone.
