HVK Archives: Banglore underworld behind attack Asian Age
Banglore underworld behind attack Asian Age - Mid-day
Sandya Mendonca
()
9 July 1997
Title: Banglore underworld behind attack on Asian Age
Author: Sandya Mendonca
Publication: Mid-day
Date: July 9, 1997
Even as shock ripples of the attack on the city office of The Asian Age are
yet to subside, fingers are pointing at the underworld.
Editor-in-Chief M J Akbar admitted that the report on the Herbron incident
could only be seen as "causal". The only way the attack was being linked
to the report was because the resident editor had received a couple of
calls during the week. where callers sounded upset about continuing reports
on the incident.
But the calls didn't sound alarming and hence were not taken seriously. In
the confusion after the attack. a couple of staffers claimed to have seen
the attackers waving a copy of the newspaper.
But as Akbar himself says, "Different editions of the Age carried the same
news report and they were not attacked. Not were other newspapers which
carried the report from AFP. So it would not be right to allege that the
attack was communal.
Various theories are being propounded: That the attack could be because of
Arun Shourie's lengthy article which could be seen as anti-Ambedkar;
another that it could be from the competition but the paper's circulation
has not grown large enough to be considered a serious threat to other
newspapers in the city and again as Akbar himself says, professional
rivalry would not sink to such depths in the newspaper business.
The most probable theory is that it was attack was by the underworld. The
Bangalore Age section of the paper has been carrying a series of crime
reports: The murder of a journalist allegedly by a politician and more
recently an underworld shoot-out.
The modus operandi bears the stamp of the Bangalore underworld: petrol
bombs and the sheer disregard for innocent people who could get hurt.
A special police squad is investigating the matter and already the pressure
is on from politicians and journalists to nab the culprits.
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