TV journalist beaten up police custody

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: Police has severely beaten up the bureau chief of a private news channel at Brewery Police Station area here on Thursday as revenge of unfavourable media coverage of police protest for pay-rise.

Chief Minister of Balochistan took notice of the incident asking the concerned officials to probe into it.

Mustafa Tareen, Quetta bureau chief of ARY One World News, held a Press Conference and said that he was going home last night when some policemen intercepted him and ask him to show his vehicle’s registration papers. He showed the papers. Meanwhile the policemen ask about his profession and told that he is working for a private news channel, in reaction an ASI on duty directed him to follow him and he was taken to Brewery Road Police Station.

At the police station, the police personnel on duty started abusing and beating him, they torn his cloths. When the journalist asked about the reason of insulting & beating him severely like a harden criminal, he was told by that the journalists of Quetta city distorted the news report covering the protest demonstration of Quetta Police on 25^th January 2010. It may be added that a journalist covering the Protest demonstration of policemen on 25^th January 2010 also attacked and injured by the protesting policemen. The protest demonstration by Policemen was for their demand for increase in their salaries as compared to other provinces.

The Chief Minister suspended and remove from service a number of police officials for vandalism and rowdyism inside the Chief Minister’s Secretariat and also at the Governor’s House violating the sanctity of symbol of authority. They also used abusive language against the Chief Minister and other Government leaders besides resorting to firing and harassing the common people the whole day.

For this, police personnel blamed the journalists for failure of their movement for pay increase and treatment met by Mustafa Tarin was one expression of police anger against the journalists.

Balochistan Union of Journalists strongly condemned the said incident with its strongest word. They demonstrated against the brutal & unauthentic behaviour of Quetta Police in front of Press Club, they boycotted the CCPO Press conference and all the police functions. They demanded that the police should register a FIR and dismiss the police personnel who were involved in this incident within 24 hours, otherwise Journalists will stage a sit-in in front of Chief Minster’s House until their demands is fulfilled.