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Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) MLA from Sholingur in Ranipet district G Kapil and his brother Dhananjeyan have been booked by Sholingur police following a complaint that two journalists were detained, assaulted and threatened while reporting on an altercation involving a YouTuber.
The case was registered based on a complaint by journalist T Aranganathan, who is undergoing treatment following the alleged assault. According to the FIR, Kapil and Dhananjeyan have been booked for the charges of committing obscene acts, voluntarily causing hurt and criminal intimidation
Aranganathan said that himself and another journalist, Kalyanasundram, went to the spot after learning that a YouTuber, Siva, had been assaulted. The journalists began recording the developments on their mobile phones.
The complaint alleges that Kapil, his brother and their supporters then confronted the journalists, assaulted them and confined them inside the premises. Their mobile phones were allegedly taken away and the videos they had recorded were deleted. The journalists have also alleged that they were threatened with death.
The incident follows a confrontation between Kapil and Siva outside a theatre in Sholingur, where the YouTuber was interviewing people about their reactions to TVK cadres after a screening of Jana Nayagan, starring TVK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay.
According to reports, Kapil allegedly attempted to attack Siva during the interaction. A video of the confrontation subsequently circulated on social media.
On July 27, Kapil, Dhananjeyan and more than 20 others allegedly went to Siva’s residence, forcibly took him to a nearby YouTube studio and assaulted him, according to reports. After learning about the incident, Aranganathan, a reporter with Dinakaran, and Kalyanasundram, a Dinamalar reporter, went to the studio and began recording what was happening.
The two journalists were allegedly assaulted after they began filming. They were also allegedly forced inside the studio and their phones were taken away.
The journalists, along with Siva, were initially admitted to the Government Hospital in Sholingur and later shifted to a private hospital in Vellore for further treatment.
The incident triggered protests in Sholingur, with residents and relatives of those allegedly assaulted demanding action against Kapil and others. Separate complaints were filed by the three injured persons.
The alleged assault comes amid continuing concerns over the safety of journalists in Tamil Nadu.
In May 2026, a television journalist, P Haja Maideen, was allegedly assaulted with a bottle at his home in Tiruvarur district. While the police said the incident stemmed from a personal dispute and was not connected to his work, the Chennai Press Club condemned the assault and called for stronger protection for journalists.
In July 2025, at least three journalists were injured in a scuffle involving Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) cadres at a party meeting in Sathur, Virudhunagar district. The journalists had been filming empty chairs at the meeting when an argument broke out following remarks allegedly made by MDMK general secretary Vaiko.
In January 2024, Tiruppur-based journalist Nesa Prabhu was brutally attacked with sickles and knives by a group of unidentified men. TNM reported that Prabhu had made several calls to the police in the hours before the attack, warning them that he was being followed and that his life was under threat.
The concerns extend beyond Tamil Nadu. According to data from the Free Speech Collective, there were 40 attacks in India in 2025, 33 of them against journalists. The report also recorded nine journalist deaths during the year, including the murder of Chhattisgarh-based journalist Mukesh Chandrakar.
This story was written by a student interning with TNM.