Bhagalpur MP and Janata Dal United (JDU) leader Ajay Kumar Mandal assaulted two journalists while they were collecting news on the roadside and snatched their mobile phones on Wednesday.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Prasad Yadav shared the video clip of the incident in which Ajay was seen hurling expletives and thrashing the journalists. He said: “Anarchy is at its zenith in Bihar and the chief minister is unconscious.”
The incident occurred near the gates of the Bhagalpur airfield where the district administration was making alternative arrangements for the landing of the helicopter of chief minister Nitish Kumar in anticipation of poor visibility in neighbouring Katihar district, where he was scheduled to visit as part of his ongoing statewide “Pragati Yatra”.
Local journalists Kunal Shekhar and Sumit Kumar were covering the preparations near the entrance of the airfield. A vehicle sporting a board of Bhagalpur MP arrived with a woman and a few men at the gate. The administrative officials deployed there did not allow it inside as the Lok Sabha member was not present in it. The vehicle went away.
Kunal and Shekhar recorded the incident and were waiting there for further information whether the bad weather would force chief minister’s helicopter to land there.
“Suddenly the vehicle returned. This time MP Ajay Mandal was in it along with four to five other men. He stepped down hurling abuses over our taking videos and photos and attacked us. We fell down on the ground and he kept beating us. We tried to run away, but he kept assaulting us,” Kunal said.
“The Lok Sabha member also snatched our mobile phones and went away. We are going to register an FIR against him,” Kumar added and appealed to Nitish to take action against the MP.
None of the administrative or police officials present at the place of the assault intervened to stop the MP.
Repeated efforts by this newspaper to contact Ajay failed as none of the calls to his two mobile numbers went through.
Bhagalpur city superintendent of police (SP) Shubhank Mishra told The Telegraph that no complaint or FIR has been registered so far.
“We are yet to receive any complaint from the media persons. We will take suitable action once we get it,” Mishra added.