Six senior journalists barred from covering R-Day event after adverse CID report

Srinagar, Jan 27: Six senior photo and video journalists were barred from covering the Republic Day function at the Sher-e-Kashmir Stadium here. The police said that CID reports against these journalists was adverse.

"The CID report in respect of below mentioned persons belonging to Media group have been found adverse and you are directed not to permit them inside the venue as their media cards for Republic Day 2019 treated as cancel," the Security Wing of the J&K Police wrote in a letter.

The six journalists are accredited with the Information Department of the J&K government. Following the incident, journalists boycotted the Republic Day function and also took out a protest march in Srinagar. The police said that once an adverse report is given by the CID, they cannot allow the person to enter the venue, owing to security reasons.

Last week, a row erupted after journalists were not allowed to cover the funeral procession of terrorists killed in an encounter at Baramulla.

The adviser to the J&K Governor, K Vijay Kumar said, " it is learnt that at the Republic Day parade venue, some journalists were not permitted to cover the event as the security passes issued to them were not found to be authenticated. The matter shall be looked into."

He also said that it appeared that the incident had occurred because of the procedure followed by the police for issuing passes for such events. The entire process of such security clearance will be reviewed for better coordination in future, he also said.