Row erupts as Punjab scribes allege profiling by cops

PATIALA: Alleging they received phone calls from the intelligence wing of Punjab Police seeking personal details and the names of media organisations, several journalists have submitted a memorandum to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann terming the act "snooping". Patiala AIG (CID) Alam Vijay Singh said it was verification for security purposes and has been stopped now.
A number of newspersons from vernacular, print and electronic media, including leading English dailies, are getting calls from the CID department.
In Sangrur, several journalists working with electronic and print media received phone calls from the intelligence wing. Officials asked the journalists to provide their details, including names of their media organisation and other personal details.
On Friday, a group of journalists in Sangrur submitted a memorandum to Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann via the deputy commissioner and termed the act of the intelligence wing as "snooping" and a direct attack on the fourth pillar of democracy and freedom and privacy of journalists. They urged the CM to get this stopped as the CID was collecting personal details.
CID officials had called journalists to know about their permanent and present addresses. They were asked to provide details of their present media organisations and the organisations they have worked in past. Many journalists were asked to provide details of identification cards issued to them by the state government. Some were also asked to forward their ID card photos to a WhatsApp number.
"A CID official called me and asked for details, including my media organisation and ID card number, on the grounds of verification. Some local journalists allegedly involved in blackmailing activities were arrested recently. The police and the establishment want to intimidate journalists," said a Sangrur-based journalist working with a reputed English daily. Another journalist from Sangrur said he wasasked about his residence details.
Patiala AIG (CID) Alam Vijay Singh said: "We conducted verification of some journalists for security purposes. Recently we detected some fake journalists during visits of some VVIPs, including the Punjab CM. The journalists were called for verification only. We have stopped it now," he said.
The district public relations department, SSP and deputy commissioner in Sangrur claimed to have been unaware of the drive.