Journalist withdraws complaint of being kidnapped

Kolkata: The propaganda of an attack on journalists during the nomination process of the Panchayat polls was proved baseless after withdrawal of the complaint of a victim who went missing from Alipore on Monday.

Allegations of attack on journalists at Alipore was raised along with allegations of journalists being detained started circulating with some comparing the office at Alipore with the "Bermuda Triangle". Senior officials and top brass of the city police were informed about it.Interestingly, the journalist was later rescued and taken to Bhowanipore police station. Some colleagues of the journalist had reached the police station and clearly stated in writing that the scribe was missing for some time. But she returned after a few hours and there was no allegation against anyone in this connection.

There was also an allegation that a scribe was manhandled at the same place on Monday and some of his valuables taken away. Similar allegations had cropped in a few districts as well. But, the interesting part was that they all returned safely.

It may be mentioned that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Tuesday, came down heavily on Anandabazar Patrika saying that the newspaper has been circulating false news for ages and it is its policy to spread canards. There were also allegations of harassing a photojournalist a few days ago at the same place. The incident had also led to a lot of hue and cry in the city. But people came to know the exact reason behind the incident when a day later the Chief Minister stated that there was an allegation of taking money after assuring jobs against the person which was the main reason.