In a brazen assault on the media, Tata Group's securitymen thrashed photojournalists outside Bombay House, mid-day's Atul Kamble shares his ordeal
Mid-day Photojournalist Atul Kamble
Mid-day Photojournalist Atul Kamble
I was at Bombay House by 11 am to capture images of ex-Tata chairman Cyrus Mistry, who eventually arrived at 2.15 pm. By then, a crowd of photographers had gathered there. He was surrounded by several security guards who kept pushing aggressively.
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In the chaos, one of the guards was accidentally hit in the face with a camera. We explained that it was an accident, but the guards began abusing us and one of them hit a senior photographer. I went to help my colleague, but an overzealous guard – Ganesh Shinde – jumped to attack me. Six to seven guards jumped in and assaulted any photographer within reach.
I tried to save myself, but they had surrounded me. They pushed me down on the footpath – thankfully, my bag saved my from a serious head injury. I was shouting as they kicked me mercilessly – in my stomach, ribs, shoulder, back and chest. They were behaving like illiterate goondas, not like professional security guards working for a prestigious company.
A few people managed to pull these goons away and I stood up, in severe pain. I saw my colleagues were still under attack and dialled 100 to call the cops. I have been in this profession for nearly 20 years, but have never seen such a violent and ruthless attack on respectable photojournalists.
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