Terror attack: TV channel in spot for 'fudging facts'

The Jammu and Kashmir Police have lodged an FIR against the operators of a national news channel for “criminal intimidation” while reporting the facts about the Fidayeen attack in Bemina area here last week.

The FIR No 52 has been registered in police station Parimpora here under section-505 (criminal intimidation), police said.

“We have lodged an FIR against the channel and investigation is underway,” Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Bukhari said. “We have started investigations. Irresponsible reporting would not be tolerated during such a tense atmosphere.”

The channel, according to police, had allegedly run a news scroll, immediately after the Bemina fidayeen attack stating that “five school children had got killed” in the shootout.
“Police has taken note of the ticker and registered the case,” the SSP said.

However, a local news agency quoting an official of the channel said that the charges levelled by the police are baseless.

“Some one from Kashmir had edited the ticker of our channel and posted it on facebook. We have identified that youth but he has deactivated his account now,” he said.

“So it is totally absurd to claim that we have acted irresponsibly. That person who is behind all this mischief didn’t realize that it would have serious repercussions,” he added.

In 2010, police had lodged an FIR against the reporter of a New Delhi-based TV channel for alleged false reporting.