Clip of journo being roughed up goes viral, SP defends action

The video is believed to have been recorded on Friday evening near Vasantha Mandapam. It shows Rajesh, who works for Jaya TV, being pushed and shoved by police personnel led by the officer.

Sources said Rajesh had gone there with a cameraman to report on the crowd on the last day of the festival. However, the police denied them permission, which led to an argument. Varun Kumar, who was on bandobust duty, rushed to the spot and pushed the TV crew.

After the video went viral, several journalists’ union condemned the officer and sought action against the personnel involved.

AMMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran MLA, too, slammed Varun Kumar for manhandling the TV crew. Dhinakaran asked the government to take action to ensure that there was no such incident in the future.

Soon afterwards, SP Varun Kumar, too, reacted to the video through social media, alleging that the TV crew blocked the emergency buffer route through which cops sent wheelchair-bound devotees and pregnant women.

“If they were not removed, it would have led to a stampede-like situation, as the crowd was swelling at 7 pm since it was the last day of the darshan. Cops did their duty to move you away,” he claimed, adding that the video was muted to portray the police in a bad light.