Bengaluru: Around 20 journalists from Kerala were detained by the police in Mangaluru, which wanted to verify whether they were “genuine” journalists or not. After spending almost eight hours in custody, the journalists were finally handed over to the Manjeswaram police at the Kerala-Karnataka border.
However, the police is said to have confiscated all camera equipment, phones and other communication devices from the journalists.
The journalists had landed in Mangaluru to report on the tense situation, after two persons were killed in police firing Thursday amid protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the proposed National Register of Citizens exercise. The government has cut off internet services in the Dakshina Kannada district, where Mangaluru is located, and imposed curfew until 22 December.
The police didn’t confirmed how many journalists were detained, but Karnataka Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai pegged the number at two, adding that since their credentials could not be verified, they were pushed back into Kerala.
Police sources said they had specific intelligence inputs that people posing as journalists were present in the city with the intention of inciting violence, so the detentions were made to ensure “posers” could be identified and arrested.
A government official told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity that the credentials of all reporters in the area were being checked, and if they produced genuine documents, they were being released.
“They need to have a valid company identity card, a state accreditation card, or their name should be listed in with the information department in their respective states. We are in touch with the information commissioners. Once their identity is established and confirmed, they will be allowed to report,” the official said.
Also read: High alert in Kerala, Karnataka after protesters’ death, mobile internet shut in UP
Commissioner’s video
A video showing Mangaluru police commissioner P. Harsha approaching the reporter of a Kerala-based channel Media One, seeking his credentials, did the rounds on social media. The officer could be heard saying: “Please switch it off. Prove that you are a genuine mediaperson.”
When the reporter showed what looks like his company identity card, the commissioner said: “That is not an accreditation issued by the government. You are not given access….Out.” The reporter was then escorted away.
The commissioner later released a statement, saying: “Few people not having any accreditation cards issued by any authority, not from any formal media and in possession of many things unconnected to reporting are being questioned.”
He added that “further action” would be initiated once verification was complete.
Karnataka’s Additional Director General of Police (law and order), Amar Kumar Pandey, told ThePrint that the matter was under investigation, adding the situation in the city is “under control”.
Kerala CM writes to Yediyurappa
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to his Karnataka counterpart B.S. Yediyurappa, asking for the media to be allowed to do its duty in a free manner.
Vijayan’s Facebook account also put out a post condemning the detention of the journalists, and urged the Karnataka government to release them.
Also read: Why states need to stop calling Indian Army to deal with protesters. It’s not riot police
(This report was updated after the journalists were released at the Kerala-Karnataka border)