HYDERABAD: A reporter and a cameraman associated with a private TV channel were on Monday barred from interviewing some persons who were wounded in police firing and being treated at the Liauquat University Hospital.

An ASI prevented them from recording statements of the suspects before he and his other colleagues escorted the reporter and cameraman to the office of the hospital’s Additional Medical Superin­tendent (AMS) where they were briefly detained.

The reporter, Imtiaz Khoso, and cameraman, Niaz Mallah, had obtained permission from the AMS, Dr Ashfaq, to record statements of the suspects wounded in, what were claimed by the Hyderabad police, ‘encounters’. The suspects were under treatment at the hospital’s orthopaedic ward in police custody.

While they were recording the suspects’ statements, ASI Ghulam Mohammad intervened and stopped them from going ahead with their professional duty. Other policemen also entered the ward. Imtiaz Khoso told the policemen that they had obtained necessary permission from the AMS for the interviews. He argued that when the district police had been claiming such encounters on a daily basis, then what was wrong in recording the wounded suspects’ statements.

But the ASI and about half a dozen other policemen took Khoso and Mallah to the office of the AMS where they were made to stay on. According to Khoso, he was harassed by ASI Ghulam Mohammad and Eshwar Bhatia, in-charge of the LUH police kiosk, who kept forcing him to delete the recording from the camera. In the meantime, some other journalists arrived in the AMS’s office and Eshwar Bhatia left it.

Later, Khoso and Mallah were allowed to leave the office.

LUH denies interference

Speaking to Dawn after the episode, an officer of the LUH, Dr Aftab Phul, contended that no one had prevented the reporter from doing his professional duty. Rather, he claimed, the administration facilitated their job.

A spokesman for the district police told Dawn that SSP Amjad Shaikh was aware of the episode and that he was looking into the matter. The spokesman did not know whether any action was going to be taken against the errant policemen. SSP Shaikh could not be contacted over phone.

HUJ demands action

Hyderabad Union of Journalists (HUJ) President Aftab Ahmed Memon and General Secretary Ali Naeem have condemned harassment of the media personnel and demanded action against the errant policemen. In their joint statement, they deplored that the reporter and cameraman were detained in the LUH by the policemen while they were performing their duties.

Published in Dawn, May 7th, 2024