By IANS,
Ahmedabad/Surat : The Gujarat government Saturday ordered a probe into Friday’s attack on scribes who were covering clashes following the mysterious death of two boys at religious leader Asaram Bapu’s ashram, as the state’s Home Minister Amit Shah said the culprits would be punished.
“The attack on media persons is intolerable and we are trying to trace those behind it,” Shah said. “We have ordered an inquiry and if the attackers were from the Asaram Ashram, they will not be spared and all necessary legal steps will be taken. Such attacks can never be justified.”
While inaugurating a police housing society at Udhna near Surat, Shah said: “It is not correct to say that police were absent from the scene and did nothing to save the media representatives.”
He said police were investigating the death of two boys from the Asaram Gurukul whose bodies were found from the riverbed nearby on the outskirts of Ahmedabad early this month.
Ahmedabad City Police Commissioner O.P. Mathur said the people who attacked journalists during the Ahmedabad shutodwn would be be identified from various photographs published in the print media and coverage in the electronic media. The culprits would be punished, he added.
Journalists in Ahmedabad gave a memorandum to District Collector Hareet Shukla demanding strict action against the attackers.
Several organisations of journalists in different districts of the state also submitted memoranda to respective collectors.
Various religious leaders also came out in support of the journalists.
“If a gurukul cannot protect its children, then it should be closed. Asaram is giving a bad name to other saints. He should now immediately come forward to help police in the matter,” Bharat Sadhu Samaj vice president Ramvilasdasji said.