KUWJ condemns CPM activists' ‘cut hand’ threat to MediaOne editor as attack on press freedom
Kozhikode: The Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) has strongly condemned the provocative slogans raised by CPI(M) activists in Vandur, who threatened to chop off the hand of MediaOne Managing Editor C. Dawood. The threat was issued during a protest organised by the party’s Vandur Area Committee, where activists declared that “if he spreads false stories against the party, his hands will be chopped off.”
The KUWJ State Committee criticised the threatening language, stating that such remarks, while claiming to uphold media freedom and civil rights, are unacceptable. “There are democratic means to counter untruths and disagree with editorial stances,” said KUWJ State President K. P. Reji and General Secretary Suresh Edappal. “But physical threats from a party like the CPI(M) must be unequivocally condemned.”
The protest was reportedly triggered by Dawood’s editorial response to communal allegations made by a local CPM leader against MediaOne. In the editorial, Dawood referred to a 1999 Assembly speech by former Vandur MLA N. Kannan, in which he mentioned the “Talibanisation” of Malappuram district, a comment originally directed at the NDF, according to the CPM. The party has since accused Dawood of misrepresenting the speech as targeting Muslims.
The KUWJ also demanded that the party leadership take responsibility for controlling its cadres and called upon the police to act against those who issued the threats. MediaOne’s journalists' cell echoed these concerns, calling the threats a direct attack on press freedom and raising alarm about the safety of channel employees.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
