Attacks – Journalists

As tensions flared up in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura between locals and police officials after the demolition of a mosque and a madrasa on February 8, Sanjay Kanera, a 48-year-old photojournalist with newspaper Amrit Vichar, “nearly died” in mob violence.

Kanera, who was at the site to report on the demolition, told Newslaundry that his camera was broken, he was pelted with stones, assaulted with lathis and firearms, and attacked by a “sharp object on the head”. He fractured the fingers on his left hand and was treated for severe injuries on head and chest at the ICU of Haldwani’s Sushila Tiwari Government Hospital.

The photojournalist said as he told the mob he was “from the media”, they became “more aggressive”. He wasn’t the only one. Of the more than 40 journalists gathered at Banbhoolpura to report on the demolition, at least 10 of them told Newslaundry they encountered an angry mob.