00:00I want to bring in first Abdul Bashir who's joining us live on this broadcast. Abdul was the one who
00:05was attacked along with his video journalist Vijay. Abdul, first of all, we're glad that you're doing okay, that you're
00:11safe and that you as well as Vijay were unharmed in that attack. But run us through what happened, Abdul,
00:18because you weren't the only media contingent to be targeted so brazenly. What happened?
00:23Well, basically, on November 1st, that is yesterday, on our usual duties that we were covering the election, municipal elections
00:29in Puli-Vendula, we've reached Andhra Pradesh, we've reached Puli-Vendula constituency, and in the morning, around 6am, we began
00:36our coverage from ground. We've seen incidents where stone felting had taken place, we've seen incidents where rigging was ongoing,
00:43our video journalist had recorded all the action that was going on there, and while I was finding a report
00:49from a Gandhi statue close to Puli-Vendula police station,
00:51what we see is that suddenly a mob of more than 50 to 80 members, they appeared, they started manhandling
00:58my video journalist Vijay.
00:59They came straight for you, right?
01:01They came straight for you.
01:02Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, they came straight for us. They just took away the camera. First, they tried to snatch
01:07the camera. When my video journalist, Vijay, resisted their attempt to take away the camera, they started assaulting him, you
01:15know, took him far away from me.
01:17I somehow, you know, took the mic, I had a mic in my hand. I just first gave that mic
01:23to my team member, and then went and rescued Vijay from their clutches.
01:27But unfortunately, they snatched away the camera, smashed it down on the ground, removed the memory card, took away the
01:33battery, and made sure that the camera is not working, and all the data in the camera is not accessible.
01:37So they took away the memory card, they smashed the camera. Abdul, was all of this clearly with the intention
01:43of ensuring that you couldn't record what was happening around you? Was that the intention?
01:47Well, absolutely. Well, absolutely. Because the intention was clear of those people, those unidentified people, whom the police has yet
01:53to identify, is what, you know, when we spoke to the SP today, I said that they're working.
01:58They had CCTV footage, but yet there are no names out, there are no arrests made. As of now, SP
02:04Karapa has said that they are investigating the matter.
02:06There were four CCTV cameras, is what the inspector had claimed when we were filing an FIR, filing a complaint
02:12at the police station, but yet there is no identification out yet.
02:17Police is here to identify these people. But when we were on the spot, their attempt was clear. They just
02:21came for a camera, for the data in the camera, and slashed the camera.
02:26They made sure that, you know, the data is in their hands, and then they fled the spot, and we
02:31somehow were rescued and moved away from the spot.
02:33There were police officials who were trying to intervene, but they were also outnumbered, because these mobs suddenly appeared out
02:39of nowhere.
02:40They were, you know, there were people who were, you know, we suspect that they were following us while we
02:45were covering, and they waited until a huge crowd gathered there, and made sure that everything in the camera is
02:51taken away.
02:51That was a very serious attempt that was made so that we do not, you know, perform our duties, and
02:56they threatened the camera person.
02:58And somehow, he was completely strong. He was traumatized from that particular attack that had took place.
03:04We've seen an eventual after we moved out of a safer place. He was completely out. He burst out into
03:09tears, you know, stating how terrifying that situation was.
03:14But somehow, we had, we were able to go away from that particular area to a safer spot.
03:19And after which, we, you know, went to the police station and filed a complaint, and I fired us, which
03:23is that, a few minutes ago, I spoke to the inspector of this particular, you know, police station,
03:30where he said that they were busy with the official duties of the election, and now they will definitely investigate
03:36the matter, and make sure that those, you know, miscreants are brought to justice,
03:43So, the investigation is yet to throw up who these people are, is what Abdul tells us, but incredibly brave
03:49of you, Abdul, to continue reporting, despite facing that kind of attack.
03:53To Vijay, too, I can understand how difficult that situation would have been to come out of that mob, to
03:58understand that you've just been attacked and assaulted in that manner, in a very, very targeted attack.
04:03I have no doubt that those people, that mob followed you, and Vijay, with the intention of targeting you, and
04:08to remove all traces of whatever incriminating footage you had in your camera and your memory card.
04:14But Abdul, thank you for joining us, and once again, very, very glad that you're doing okay.
