By IANS
Ahmedabad : Gujarat Home Minister Amit Shah Saturday strongly condemned the attack on the office of news television network NDTV here. A staff member was hurt and the office ransacked by members of a previously unknown group called Hindu Samrajya Sena.
Saturday’s attack came after the network ran an SMS poll that listed painter M.F. Hussein among potential contenders for the nation’s highest civilian honour Bharat Ratna.
The minister said that he condemned the attack and promised “strict” and “quick action” by the police in the matter.
Around 20 attackers ransacked the office here, broke windowpanes, air conditioners and electrical fittings and damaged other equipment.
A staff member was beaten up with hockey sticks. He was taken to hospital.
Channel staff member Joydeep Sen Gupta said the president of Hindu Samrajya Sena, Ashok Sharma, called up the channel office and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sharma said he was not personally involved in the attack as he was away attending a wedding at Viram Gaon, around 60 km from here.
The office of the channel is located in a bungalow near the Loyola School of St. Xavier in the heart of the city. One member of the staff sustained injuries in the incident.
The channel was, however, able to restart operations within a short time, Rajeev Pathak, a journalist with the channel, told IANS.
Joint Commissioner of Police Satish Sharma visited the office and promised that the attackers would soon be identified and “strict action” would be taken against them.
The attackers plastered the office with posters and banners describing the channel as “traitors” and demanding an apology from it.
Apparently the same group had threatened the channel two days ago. One person identifying himself as an electrician had come to the office demanding to speak to the reporters. He was told the reporters had gone for the day. Before leaving the person had reportedly said: “whatever you are doing is not correct.”
Octogenarian Hussein, arguably India’s best-known painter, has been forced to live in exile in Dubai after some Hindu groups threatened him after he painted a Hindu goddess in the nude.