MADRAS: Over 20,000 copies of the Indian Express’, “Financial Express’ and the group’s allied publications, Dinamani’ and ‘Andhra Prabha’ were set on fire along with two vans carrying the newspaper bundles in four different places in Madras early Monday, city police commissioner Nair said.
While bundles of several newspapers including Indian Express, Dinamani, Hindu and Dinamalar have been burnt in various parts of. Tamil Nadu in the last few weeks, allegedly by supporters of the federal govt’s decision to reserve jobs for the backward classes, this is the first such attack in the city.
Nair told reporters miscreants armed with knives came in cars, stopped vans carrying the morning editions sprinkled petrol on the bundles and set them on fire along with the vans after forcing the drivers to get off.
Indian Express bundles were also burnt at Luz Comer and Anna Salai post office by miscreants, he said.
An Indian Express reporter present at the commissioner’s press briefing alleged that though the Express management telephoned the police control room immediately after the vans were set on fire and sought police protection for the vehicles carrying fresh bundles of the newspapers to Kodambakkam and Teynampet areas, no help was provided.
Article extracted from this publication >> October 19, 1990
