Two RSS workers were arrested by Kerala police in the wee hours of Friday for attacking a photojournalist in the state's Malappuram district. Police had earlier registered case against 10 RSS activists over the attack.
Fouad, a photographer with Malayalam daily Chandrika, was attacked when he took photographs of a few RSS workers intercepting a biker who was caught in a protest rally organised by the right-wing outfit in the district on Thursday.
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Malappuram CI A. Premjith said that the accused were charged with sections, including unlawful assembly and assault. The arrested have been identified as Shibu and Dileep Kumar.
Fouad was allegedly assaulted by RSS workers inside the Malappuram Press Club on Thursday. He suffered injuries to his leg and was admitted at the cooperative hospital in Malappuram. They allegedly damaged his camera and mobile phone.
Police said the incident happened after around 150 RSS workers took out a procession protesting an attack on an RSS office in the district earlier. "The protesters blocked the road causing traffic snarls. The two-wheeler rider, on seeing the march, tried to leave the spot, but the RSS activists intercepted him and grabbed the vehicle's key. On seeing it, Fouad took some video shots on his mobile phone and soon, some RSS workers barged into the Press Club, and allegedly assaulted him and snatched away his phone," police said.
The police later recovered the mobile phone from the activists and returned it to Fouad.
The attack on the photojournalist on the World Press Freedom Day was condemned by the media fraternity in Kerala.