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INTERVIEW |
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EXCLUSIVE
'The visual was from the cell phone of an unknown person who sold it to me'
The Assam state police apprehended Gaurav Jyoti Neog, the television reporter who allegedly instigated and filmed the assault on a young girl by a mob of around 30 men in front of a popular nightclub in Guwahati, earlier on Friday. Investigations have revealed that the reporter could have orchestrated the entire act. Both Gaurav and News Live Editor-in-chief Atanu Bhuyan have resigned following the public outcry over the channel’s involvement. Neog spoke to Tehelka hours before his arrest clarifying his position on the incident. Excerpts from the interview:
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A video grab of the girl being molested by the mob in Guwahati |
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Today when you look back at the entire episode, how does it feel?
I admit that the 9 July incident was a heinous display of humanity. Right or wrong, the argument will continue. As a journalist I did take the footage, which eventually became a national issue and it is by virtue of those visuals that some of the culprits are behind bars.
Now fingers are being pointed at you. It is being alleged that you instigated the molesters?
It is very sad for me and my family. The tragedy is that in my effort to expose the perpetrators of the heinous crime, I myself became victim of a big conspiracy. I have resigned since I wanted a break; I am upset with whatever happened and want a fair investigation. I am confident that I will get justice and that all allegations against me of inciting the mob would be found false.
What kind of conspiracy are you hinting at?
You have to look at the situation. As claimed by Akhil Gogoi, the footage was leaked out of our office. So there is a chance that some insider might be involved. This might be a plot to make me a scapegoat and defame News Live.
News Live has gone on record to say that the visuals were taken by you on your cell phone camera and it was your voice on the footage, calling the office for a camera unit to be sent to the spot immediately?
Although it is true that I had asked for a camera unit to be sent to Club Mint Bar, those visuals were not shot with my personal phone. I do not have recording facility on my phone. The visuals were from the cell phone of an unknown person who gave them to me afterwards. Let me explain it. An unknown person came running after me after we left the spot for the office. He said that he had the recording of the initial part of the ruckus on his cell phone. He offered it to me. As in other media organisations, we too have a system of ‘source money’ in our office. I paid Rs 1,000 to the man for his memory card. I don’t know him, what I was interested in was the initial visuals and not the identity of the man. So if I was present from beginning at the spot, I would not have bought the visuals and given it to the office. I would have destroyed the evidence if I was guilty. I have told this to the police when they asked me.
Did you call the police from the spot? If not, why?
I did not personally call the police. I had already passed on the message to our news desk. Moreover, it was not as if things were happening over half an hour and we were recording. Even on the News Live tape, you will find hardly 10 minutes of recording. The situation was really bad; it was beyond us to control the mob. I have told all this in detail to the police. Other people who helped rescue the girl, told us later that although several people had already called the cops, the police reacted very late.
Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi says that the News Live team should have informed the police. The police says that it never got any call from any media organisation…
What I can say is that the normal practice in our office is to immediately inform the police control room from the news desk as soon as any reporter or outsider informs about any incident.
Why did the molesters allow you to shoot them without any protest? It is almost as if they were posing for you.
Had you been in my position you would have understood the situation. We are shocked that this kind of an incident can really happen. It took some time for me and my colleagues to come to terms with what we were witnessing. The whole mob of molesters were more or less drunk, some even drunk out of their heads. Even the victim was drunk. They were not bothered with anything around them. Had they been in their senses, they would have feared a news channel team filming them.
On hindsight, do you now feel that the way you handled the situation on the spot and the way the exposé was aired by News Live, you could have done things differently?
As I told you, it all happened in the heat of the moment. We reacted the best way we could. Everything went haywire, and now the national media, some Delhi-based channels, are pointing fingers at me, almost making me a villain. Did they ever try to contact me for my side of the story? I am speaking my heart out to you, because TEHELKA has been trying to get my side of the story as well. I am a reporter, I did my job and we got the story. How it was aired, what news angle was taken, was decided by the editors. I do not want to comment on that. I was in touch with my seniors from the spot. Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka.
Ratnadip Choudhury is a Principal Correspondent with Tehelka.
ratnadip@tehelka.com
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