Govt to lift cases against scribes

Cops found guilty would be punished, said Home Minister Sabitha Indra Reddy on Saturday while promising to lift all cases filed against journalists on the Osmania University campus on Feb 14 and Feb 15.

Sabitha told newsmen that the Government would bear the hospital expenses of journalists injured in the police brutality. A compensation package for destroyed vehicles and cameras of journalists would also be announced, she said while promising to register cases against guilty police officers as part of disciplinary proceedings against them.

With the Government making the assurance of action against the errant police, the journalists decided to cover the Budget session of the Assembly on Saturday.

Earlier, the Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists called upon print and the electronic media to boycott the budget session of the Assembly in protest against the police brutality on them.

As a mark of protest, the scribes on Friday attended a press conference called by Police Commissioner A K Khan by squatting on the floor.

Altogether, 23 journalists were injured and 18 of their vehicles and eight cameras were damaged on Sunday's incidents.