Ranpur: Two were arrested for allegedly attacking and holding an electronic media reporter and his associate captive at Balabhadrapur area under Ranpur block in Nayagarh district.
The accused have been identified as Dinabandhu Panda alias Bulu, son of Balabhadrapur sarpanch Nilamani Panda and Sanjay Das, husband of a panchayat samiti member.
According to reports, journalist Satyanarayan Surajagdeb and his associate had gone to Lakhapara village in Balabhadrapur panchayat Thursday for reporting. They stopped their motorcycle near a tree where pension was being distributed to beneficiaries intending to cover the story.
When he was shooting the pension distribution in his video camera, Dinabandhu Panda stopped him from the act. He however continued recording the video and hence in a fit of rage the former manhandled him and took away his camera.
After a heated argument, Satya and his associate were taken to the village and held captive where they were beaten publicly. On the top, the journalists were forced to sign an undertaking which stated that they will not lodge a police complaint in this connection.
Reportedly, they were held captive in the village from 2 pm to 6 pm on the day. On receiving the information, Ranpur police rushed to the spot and rescued Satya and his associate. A case was registered in this connection following which Dinabandhu and Sanjay were arrested by Ranpur police.
PNN
