Advocates attack mediapersons; judicial probe ordered

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For the second time in two months, lawyers went on the rampage on Friday, this time at the City Civil Court against television journalists covering the Janardhan Reddy case, and the hundreds of police deployed to provide security.

As television footage showed, violent men in black coats punched and kicked journalists, while others from the upper floors of the building rained rocks, paperweights, chairs and benches at their targets.

A police constable suffered serious injuries and collapsed, while DCP (Central) Ramesh and Principal District and Sessions Judge B.R. Budhihal were injured, and several journalists and TV cameramen were beaten up and chased out of the court complex by the lawyers.

Earlier in the day, TV cameramen, waiting to film the arrival of Mr Reddy at the court had a verbal duel with the lawyers, mediapersons alleged. As CBI officials brought Mr Reddy in and cameramen rushed towards him, lawyers picked up the camera tripods left behind by the tv crew and smashed one on the head of one cameraman.

As scuffles broke out, the lawyers chased journalists out of the court complex, the television crew alleged, adding 'although there were a dozen ACPs, three DCPs and hundreds of constables, no one stopped the attack on TV crews'.

It was two hours after the attack began, when DCP Ramesh was hit by a rock, that police lathi-charged the advocates and beat them back into the court complex.

"The lawyers hurled bricks, ink bottles, paperweights, flower pots, water jugs, just about anything they could lay their hands on, at the police," an eye-witness said. The police burst tear gas shells to quell the riot. Judge Budhihal, who sits in the ground floor, sustained minor injuries.

The violence subsided, but the stand-off between the lawyers and police continued till late evening as advocates holed up inside the court complex refused to step out until police and media left.

No arrests have been made so far, but police have booked a case of rioting and clamped Section 144 in and around the court complex.