In another incident that could be seen as an attempt to muzzle the media, Moradabad District Magistrate Rakesh Kumar allegedly locked up several media personnel in the emergency ward of a district hospital during Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath’s visit on Sunday, 30 June, news agency IANS reported.
Allegedly, Singh also posted guards outside the gate to ensure that the journalists did not come out during the CM’s visit.
However, Singh dismissed the allegations and told news agency ANI, “The allegation that media persons were locked up is baseless. They were just stopped by the police near the door of the emergency ward.”
Yogi had visited the district hospital for inspection and interacted with several patients.
‘Journalists Are Being Held Captive, Questions Are Being Curtailed’
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of muzzling the media.
“Journalists are being held captive, questions are being muffled, problems are being ignored. The full majority BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is turning away from people's questions. The public knows it all. It will ask questions and demand answers too,” she wrote on Twitter.
Adiyanath's visit came at a time when the neighbouring Bihar is reeling under an outbreak of Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES).
The AES outbreak also reached the Northeast, after wreaking havoc in Bihar where it claimed more than 150 lives.
(With inputs from IANS.)
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