DPRO Assaults Journalist in Nalanda, Bihar. Journalists Condemn Behaviour and Demand Action

The Bihar journalists’ community strongly condemns the rude and intimidating behaviour of District Public Relations Officer (DPRO), Gupteshwar Kumar. In a recent incident, he assaulted Pramod Kumar, reporter of Dainik Bhaskar, a prominent Hindi newspaper, because he was angry at the latter’s coverage of the administrative failures in organising the Khelo India Youth games 2025.

The Khelo India Youth Games 2025 are being organized at the Rajgir Sports Complex from May 4th to May 15th. All journalists have been issued ID cards by Khelo India Youth Games for news coverage. These ID cards are the sole means of entry for journalists into the Sports Complex for reporting. On the first day of the Khelo India Youth Games, May 4th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the event.

This program was not shown live on the TV screens at the sports venue in Rajgir. Ideally, the district administration should have arranged for the live broadcast of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech on the TV screens to encourage the players. However, district administration officials themselves were seated, enjoying the games, while spectators were stopped at the main gate. Security personnel and district administration officials were stationed at the main gate, citing orders from senior officials for not allowing people inside, which greatly disappointed the spectators.

Due to the denial of entry to the spectators, the auditorium remained completely empty.

This news was published in the Dainik Bhaskar newspaper. Following this, the Nalanda DPRO, Gupteshwar Kumar, threatened journalist Pramod Kumar. However, Pramod Kumar published the shortcomings and negligence of the district administration in the organization of the games on the following day as well. Subsequently, On May 6th around 5 in the evening the Public Relations Officer, along with his associates, forcibly roughed up Pramod Kumar at the Sports Complex, grabbing his hand and neck, forcibly snatched his ID card issued by India Youth Games, and warned him not to return, threatening him with imprisonment. Since then, Pramod Kumar has been unable to cover the event.

This is not the first time that Guptesthwar Kumar has behaved in a high-handed manner with journalists. He has consistently violated press freedom and intimidated journalists. Journalists say that he consistently obstructs journalists in their news gathering work and openly threatens them with imprisonment. He speaks rudely to journalists if their coverage of government events does not align with his preferences.

In an incident that displayed his feudal mindset, he insulted Akash Raj, a journalist from DD News. When Akash Kumar addressed him as “Gupteshwar ji,” he became angry and said he because he prefers to be addressed as DPRO “Sahab.”

Several journalists allege that he also discriminates against journalists in providing government information and press conference notifications, sharing information only with journalists of his choice. When questioned, the DPRO argues that the District Magistrate does not want to invite too many journalists due to potential overcrowding. In this way, he frequently suppresses the journalists’ right to information.

Journalists of Bihar believe that such assaults on the fourth pillar of democracy are completely unacceptable. We are committed to completely eradicating the mindset of oppressive action against the free, fair and fearless media in Bihar.

The press will not be silenced, and we will continue to hold those in power accountable. The job of the media is to show the truth, and the journalists of Bihar will not tolerate any disrespect to the dignity and freedom of the press in the course of fulfilling their duties.

We demand that the Chief Minister takes immediate action against the DPRO for his unacceptable behavior, including physical assault and threats against journalists.

If no action is taken against this errant officer, journalists will be compelled to agitate to protect our right to practice our profession without any intimidation.

Sumita Jaiswal, Bihari from Bengal
Pramod Kumar, Bihar
Akash Raj, Bihar
Arvind Sharma, Bihar
Manish Kumar, Bihar
Suraj Kumar, Bihar
Rajnish Kiran, Bihar
Preeti Singh, Bihar
Shreya Sharma, Bihar
Laxmi Murthy, Bangalore
Revathi, Bangalore
Linda Chhakchhuak, Shillong
Anuj Sharma, Bihar
Balram Mishra, Bihar
Abhishek Kumar, Bihar

यहाँ हिंदी में पढ़ें।