15 journalists and crew detained by Mangaluru police during coverage of injured at the hospital

About 15 journalists and crew on Friday were detained by the Mangaluru police during the coverage of the two persons at the hospital who were killed in the police firing during the protest against the amended Citizenship Act.

Majority of the journalists were from prominent Kerala channels. The police asked them for their IDs and when the journalists showed their company’s identity cards the police asked them to stay out as these were not the ‘government accreditation cards’, which are issued by the state and central government to journalists. One of the journalists from a Malayalam channel was detained in front of the camera during a reporting, where the police personnel can be seen asking about the ID-card "Where is it? No... no. Please switch it off. Show your accreditation card... prove that you are a genuine media person. Switch it off (to the cameraperson)," and shouting that the card issued by the company is not authorised, “…. OUT.”

The journalists were forced to sit inside a van outside the hospital where they were speaking to family members of the deceased. Also, they were not allowed to contact any other media persons or concerned authority.

According to a statement issued by the Commissioner's office, the journalists were detained and "further action" will be initiated once verification is complete.

Minister E Chandrasekharan told ANI, "Once I received information that Kerala journalists, including those from Kasaragod, have been taken into custody by police in Mangaluru, I asked Kerala Chief Secretary to contact Karnataka government and conduct an inquiry,"

Amidst the protest on the Citizenship Amendment Act, the CCTV footage has been released on Thursday in which the Karnataka police personnel can be seen trying to break in the hospital ward with the help of lathis, by kicking at it and forcefully rushing inside the rooms as the people are trying to push them out.

In another circulated video, the people can be seen running out from the hospital’s ICU wearing masks after the police threw tear gas shells into the hospital.