Scribe assaulted during temple demolition protest in Mysuru

Mysuru: A journalist from an Urdu daily was allegedly assaulted by some persons protesting against the demolition of a temple in Mysuru, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place when Mohammed Safdar Kaiser, associated with Kausar news, was reportedly recording the speech of Hindu Jagarana Vedike leader Jagadish Karanth at the protest site on Thursday.

They allegedly asked him to delete the video he had recorded despite him telling them he was a journalist and covering the event, police sources said.

Police personnel present at the spot rushed to rescue him and he was taken inside a room near the Kote Anjaneya Swamy temple near the Mysuru palace premises, they said.

While Khaiser and a few journalists alleged that he was manhandled, the protesters claimed that they mistook him for an ”unknown” person trying to record proceedings at the protest venue.

The Mysuru District Journalists Association has written to the city police commissioner, seeking action against the culprits.

The scribe has also approached the police with a complaint demanding action against those who allegedly assaulted him.

The protesters were opposing the demolition of an “illegally” constructed temple in Mysuru”s Nanjangud recently by the administration.