
CHENNAI: Members of the Chennai Press Club (CPC) along with senior journalists, held a protest on Saturday, accusing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of intimidating reporters covering the Anna University rape, by unlawfully seizing their personal mobile phones.
Several reporters alleged that the SIT operates without clear guidelines and did not issue an acknowledgement of the seized electronic devices until journalists, along with members of the press club, specifically insisted on it during their meeting with the SIT on Friday. They also questioned on what basis the reporters are being investigated since accessing or downloading an FIR, which was open to download in the Tamil Nadu police’s Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), is not a crime. They further alleged that these were SIT’s tactics to thwart their sources.
Members of the press club said that although they requested the SIT to refrain from seizing the mobile phones of reporters, they continue to do so, with a fresh batch of reporters being summoned for investigation on Monday.
M Haseef, General Secretary of the CPC, said that the reporters were being treated as culprits. “The crime itself (Anna University rape) and its gravity would not have come to light if the reporters had not done their jobs. This inquiry is aimed at diverting the attention away from the crime to the reporters,” he said.