By R Lester Makang
UKHRUL, March 29: The high handed behavior of Ukhrul police caused a chaotic scene on the main road of Ukhrul town on Saturday when they went on a rampage and disrupted the duty of journalists while hundreds of students were holding peaceful rally.
The incident occurred when Ukhrul SP, S Selvan and his escort party swooped on a group of reporters who were covering the students rally and forcefully seized their cameras without any reasons, apart from threatening the students who were marching peacefully towards the DC office at the mini secretariat to submit a memorandum on Saturday at around 11:30 am here.
The IPS officer went ahead and deleted photos from the cameras of three reporters even after the later promptly identified themselves as members of the media fraternity.
Moreover, as if that was not enough, the district police chief even picked a heated argument with representatives of the Principals Association of Recognized Schools, Ukhrul (PARSU) which organized the rally demanding inclusion of Additional English subject in BOSEM syllabus in front of hundreds of students.
Meanwhile, strongly reacting to the unwarranted attitude of the SP Selvan, the Ukhrul District Journalists Association (UDJA) has submitted an ultimatum to the DC demanding `unconditional apology` to the media fraternity by the police officer by 12 noon of Sunday.
In the event of the SP Ukhrul failing to tender the apology by the stipulated time, further stringent course of steps will be initiated to safeguard the rights of the media, the association has warned.
Copy of the memorandum has been served to the police officer, while the same has also been forwarded to the All Manipur Hills Journalists Association (AMHJU).