Puttur: An altercation between members of a WhatsApp group and reporters of a particular newspaper snowballed, taking the issue to doors of police station on May 14.
A WhatsApp group named ‘Yuva Bharath’, as per sources has been continuously attacking a vernacular daily ‘Suddi Bidugade’ for its campaign against forceful bandh. The newspaper has been campaigning against forceful bandhs as a means of fight for social justice and the WhatsApp group, which is of the opinion that bandhs are imperative to reach a set goal resorted to floating messages on the social networking platform against the newspaper. After a while, the group intensified its attack and even started posting derogatory posts on the editor and employees of the newspaper.
While the group members remained elusive, they came to Puttur press club on May 14 to talk about Netravathi river diversion issue. Seizing the opportunity, the reports of Suddi Bidugade, backed by other scribes confronted the group about its stand. Soon the talk turned into an altercation and the police had to intervene to disperse the crowd.
