Puri: In a shocking incident, video journalist and reporter of a vernacular news channel were allegedly assaulted and threatened by on duty forest personnel at Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary in Puri district today.
As per information, the journalists had been to the sanctuary to cover the anniversary of cyclone Fani when the incident took place. Balukhand Wildlife Sanctuary was among the worst affected tourist places in the state in the cyclone that had hit the state on May 3, 2019.
“As soon s we reached the spot we found the forest officials consuming alcohol inside a cottage meant for tourist and we were capturing the incident when one of them abused us and tried to snatch the camera. He also threatened us of dire consequences if we don’t delete the footage,” alleged Chitta Ranjan Khuntia.Khuntia works as a video journalist with an Odia news channel.
Later he lodged a formal complaint with the Penthakata Marine police station.