An FIR has been registered against SP leader and former Uttar Pradesh Akhilesh Yadav for an incident where journalists were assaulted at a press conference in Moradabad. Apart from Yadav, 20 members of the Samajwadi Party also have been named in the FIR. The FIR has been registered at the Pakbara police station in Moradabad district under sections 147, 323 and 342 of the Indian Penal Code.
Along with that, a separate FIR also has been lodged against the journalists, as two separate complaints were submitted in connection with the same case.
The case against the former CM and his party workers were registered after a group of journalists had submitted a complaint against them. On the other hand, SP had also lodged a complaint against the journalists, blaming them for the incident. The journalists’ association has named Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party workers in its complaint. And, Samajwadi Party has named two journalists in its FIR.
Uttar Pradesh ADG (Law and order) Prashant Kumar said that the FIRs were lodged based on complaints from both parties. “The cross FIRs were lodged based on complaints from both sides. Further action will be taken based on the merits of the cases. An investigation is underway,” he said. The ADG added that police is scanning the CCTV footage of the venue, and the incident is being probed.
On Thursday, a ruckus had broken out between a group of journalists and the supporters of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav at a hotel in Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. The former Chief Minister was in the city to attend the wedding of an MLA and had conducted a press conference at the said hotel on Thursday evening.
A video of the incident had gone viral on social media, where Akhilesh Yadav was seen pushing and shoving through the crowd. He was also heard yelling at the journalists saying “BJP ke liye kaam mat karo” (Don’t work for the BJP). When the journalists sought answers from the Samajwadi Party chief, his supporters and security personnel assaulted, pushed and shoved the reporters.
During the ruckus, a reporter named Fareed Shamsi took a severe blow to his nose from Yadav’s security guard’s rifle.
