RAHIM YAR KHAN, June 30: Doctors allegedly beat up reporters and cameramen of different news channels in emergency ward of Sheikh Zayed Medical College Hospital (SZMCH) who were covering the helpless patients here on Saturday.

Office-bearers and members of striking Young Doctors Association (YDA) - Abdul Ghaffar, Mohsan Bilal, Faraz and Zohaib Baloach – along with their colleagues beat up reporters and damaged their cameras when they were covering the plight of the patients in outdoor and emergency wards.

The young doctors stopped them and forced them to cover only the press conference they arranged on 13th day of the strike.

The doctors held hostage cameraman Mumtaz Shah after torturing him and damaged his camera. When some journalists came to help their colleague, more than 20 young doctors attacked the newsmen and allegedly beat them up.

In the meantime, police deployed outside the emergency ward came there and rescued the journalists. Later, the newsmen visited the City A-division police station where SHO Jamshid Shah initially refused to register a case against doctors.

After intervention of District Press Club President Dr Mumtaz Moonis and members of Rahim Yar Khan Union of Journalists, an FIR was registered.

Thereafter, journalists held a protest rally from City Pull to DCO office. Leaders of PML-N, PTI, PPP, JUI and APCA joined the rally to show solidarity with media men. Journalists from Khanpur, Sadiqabad and other towns also reached the DCO office.

DCO Dr Ahmed Javaid Qazi and DPO Sohail Zafar assured the journalists that the accused doctors would be arrested.

After the journalists ended their protest, YDA Rahim Yar Khan President Dr Shabbir Warraich told this correspondent that the police in civvies allegedly beat up Dr Ikhlaaq Chaudhry, Dr Waqar Cheema and Dr Faraz.

He said the police took action against doctors when journalists and medics were about to reach reconciliation.

Dr Warraich said: “I am ready to apologise to journalists for this incident because we have always respected the media.”