Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Apr 20: In an incident which occurred near Anand Milk Stall near the Doddanagagudde society on the night of Monday April 18, a policeman behaved in an unacceptable manner with Daijiworld TV journalist, who had gone there to report the theft attempt incident. A memorandum seeking action against the cop has been submitted to SP Annamalai, who has assured that a showcause notice would be issued.

The policeman in question is head constable Ratnakar of night beat 'Hoysala' van attached to the town police station here.

Sadhu, who owns Sri Sai General Stores complex which also houses Aditya Milk Stall, has been accused of making this theft attempt. A person named Jaya Shetty runs Aditya Milk Stall in this building on the basis of an agreement with the building owner. Sadhu, it is alleged, sold off the said building even before the term of the agreement ended. The case was referred to police station. The police were trying to settle the dispute by holding conciliatory discussions between the two sides.

Before this plan could materialize, Sadhu, assisted by a group of five, allegedly attempted to break open the shutters of the said milk stall late night on Monday. Shopkeeper Jaya Shetty, who got to know about this development, tried to stop them, but could not. 'Hoysala' police, who were informed of the incident, reached the spot.

When Pareekshith Shet, Daijiworld TV journalist, who was at the spot, clicked pictures of the incident in order to report it and tried to take statements from the shop owner, Ratnakar got wild and allegedly forcibly got the photos deleted from his mobile phone. He also allegedly raised his hand in an apparent threat of assault and behaved rudely. Even though the journalist tried to explain that he was a media person, the cop refused to listen.

Following the incident, the Udupi District Working Journalists' Union on Wednesday approached SP Annamalai and submitted a memorandum seeking action the cop. After hearing the matter, the SP apologized on behalf of the police department and said that he would direct the department personnel to be friendly with the media fraternity.

The SP dialled head constable Ratnakar's number and sought an explanation. Annamalai then told the journalists' delegation that he would issue a showcause notice to Ratnakar. He also assured that he would ensure such incidents would not occur again.

Pareekshith Shet, president of Udupi District Working Journalists' Union Jayakar Suvarna, Nazeer Polya, Dinesh Kini, Shashidhar Mastibail, Rahim Ujire, Bandimath Shivaram Acharya, Chetan Padubidri and others were part of the delegation.