Islamabad, Aug 10 (IANS): A journalist was manhandled for exposing malpractices at a premier hospital in Karachi, a media report said.

The health reporter associated with a news agency was manhandled Tuesday by the kitchen in-charge of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Daily Times reported.

The reporter was beaten and threatened for exposing malpractices in the hospital's kitchen, including sub-standard food served to patients.

The incident comes within days of police personnel attacking two security guards of a Peshawar-based Urdu newspaper.

Another journalist Saleem Shahzad, 40, was kidnapped in Islamabad May 29. Two days later, his body, bearing marks of severe torture, was found dumped in a canal in Punjab province.

Shahzad is widely believed to have been picked up by intelligence officials for alleging in an article that terrorists attacked a key naval base in Karachi May 22 after the navy refused to free sailors held for suspected militant links.

In June, a journalist working for Britain's Guardian newspaper was attacked by policemen apparently over his appearance in a TV talk show.