Guwahati: The members of land mafia and a gang of gamblers attacked a journalist in Assam on Sunday, said police. The journalist Milan Mahanta was tied to an electric pole and beaten in the middle of a busy road on Sunday in Mirza, 45 km west of Guwahati. Police searching for the accused persons who beaten the journalist.

The 42-year-old journalist, who lives in Amranga village just five 5 km from where he was attacked, has been a reporter with the Assamese daily Asomiya Praditin newspaper for 20 years and writes frequently on crime. The journalist Mahanta told to the media at his house “They wanted to kill me, I guess. I had written a series of reports against them. They also tried to attack people who came forward to save me. It has been three days since the incident yet police never came to my home to ask for details”. Local journalists took a protest in the state against the attack on Mahanta.

“A reporter was tied to a pole in broad daylight beaten mercilessly yet the cops are unable to nab the main culprits. We need new legislation to protect journalists,” Mirza-based journalist Niren Mali said. The case is under investigations, “The main accused is absconding, said the police.