Star News office ransacked by activists protesting story

Mumbai, Apr 16 (UNI) The office of Star News in the city was today ransacked and its staff manhandled by a mob, protesting telecast of a news story relating to elopement of a young couple of different religions from Surat on Saturday.

The 16-year-old girl was driven to the city by a 22-year-old boy on a two-wheeler yesterday.

'' A mob of 70 - 100 people barged into my office between 1600 and 1630 hrs and began smashing everything they could lay their hands on'', Star News executive producer Chandramohan Puppala told UNI.

'' They even manhandled me and my colleagues and security staff, when we tried to stop them. When they left, they smashed cars parked under our building ,'' he added.

Puppala said, '' While leaving our office, the mob claiming allegiance to some Hindu Rashtra Sena threatened everybody around to immediately stop the telecast of the news story about a Surat couple, who eloped as theirs was a inter-religious love affair''.

Several members of the Star staff, who spoke to UNI, said the attack appeared to be organised. They revealed it were the Surat couple who approached the channel with their story.

''We just showed what they told us ......people should understand we put out news as and when it happens'', said one of the staffers.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil visited the ransacked office and has promised the guilty well be punished.

Police are understood to have detained about 20 people and are investigating.

UNI