Tamil news channel News7 has alleged that the lethargic attitude of police led to the brutal attack on its journalist Nesa Prabhu on Wednesday, January 24. The Managing Editor of the news channel Thiyaga Chemmal, said that Nesa Prabhu desperately tried to get the help of police for at least 4 hours before the attack, but the police did not respond promptly. Nesa Prabhu was attacked with sickles and knives by a group of six unidentified men, causing grievous injuries, in Tiruppur. He is currently under treatment at a private hospital in Coimbatore.
Speaking to TNM, Thiyaga Chemmal said that Nesa Prabhu was followed by a group of unidentified persons on Wednesday morning, and he informed the police immediately. “The attack happened at 8.45 pm and Nesa Prabhu by then had asked the police for help for four hours. The police asked him to come to the station and file a complaint. It was when he was on the way to the station that he was attacked. He sustained 62 grievous injuries in his body, some of which are on his nerves and the doctors say that it will take at least a year for him to recover completely,” he said.
Thiyaga Chemmal described eyewitness accounts which said that Nesa Prabhu was surrounded by unidentified men who had covered their faces, and he was chased inside a petrol bunk near Sri Pathy Hotel in Tiruppur. “It was around 500 metres away from the Kamanaickenpalayam police station. As his aged parents live with him, Nesa Prabhu decided to rush to the station to get help. However, he was attacked, and the entire assault was videographed,” he added.
“If the police had interfered on time and provided protection, this wouldn’t have happened. The attack on Nesa Prabhu was entirely due to the lethargic attitude of the police,” Thiya Chemmal alleged.
Nesa Prabhu, a reporter in Palladam, Tiruppur, for the last seven years, had recently reported on the illegal sale of liquor in Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation outlets operating in Tiruppur. He also reported a story regarding an inspector threatening a trader and demanding bribes.