Government employee manhandling journalist arrested

DAMAK: Indra Rajbanshi, an employee at the local Land Revenue Office, has been arrested on the charge of assaulting journalists.

Police held Rajbanshi this morning for investigation after one of the victims filed a complaint against him.

Deputy Superintendent at the Area Police Office Damak, Bijaya Raj Pandit, said Rajbanshi is accused of manhandling journalist Khagendra Ghimire and cameraman Bhaskar Shrestha of the Anusandhan Online, an online news portal while they were filming a video showing Rajbanshi taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from Suresh Saha.

The incident took place at around 4 pm last Tuesday and Rajbanshi is alleged to have accepted the bribe from Saha for getting his work done. Rajbanshi is an assistant level employee at the Land Revenue Office.

The Federation of Nepali Journalists (FNJ) Jhapa chapter and other journalists’ organizations had condemned the incident of manhandling on journalists and demanded stern action against the culprit.