NEW DELHI: A reporter of Times Now Samia and video journalise Mukesh Kumar were attacked by Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Nahid Hasan and his aides in Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday (8 February) morning.

The duo was threatened with dire consequences and were asked to delete the video footage of their interview with the SP leader. The two were covering a report on the accidental killing of an eight-year old boy by Samajwadi Party workers in a celebratory firing on 7 February. 

The reporter was told by some workers surrounding the politician that “we first shoot and then answer questions.”

The reporter and cameraperson were held captive and misbehaved with and all the footage was forcefully deleted.

It is learnt that following the intervention of the party's top brass, the journalists were released.

Times Now video journalist Kumar said, "They took my camera away and they also tried to remove the memory chip. I was asked to delete the footage, for this they even called their own photographer. They told me if you don't give the camera you know what we will do. Then their own photographers took my camera and deleted the footage we had shot," said Mukesh. 

Times Now reporter Samia narrated, "They abused and threatened us of dire consequences. They took away Mukesh and I stayed back in the car. Some of them then asked me to join them in the room and used derogatory language."

The incident happened in Shamli district, where a politician had fired a gun in celebration after the victory of the party candidate in local body polls at Kairana town in the district. The bullet hit a child sitting in his mother’s lap on a rickshaw.

Later, Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the incident and regretted that the administration was yet to take action against errant SP workers. 

"Assault on mediapersons in Balrampur and Shamli indicate that SP men are attacking them in a planned manner," BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.