A man identified as Nobo Kumar Das was arrested on Wednesday for illegally using the tag of being a media person to indulge in illegal activities. He was reportedly caught peddling drugs in Hollongi by the local youths of the area. The local press bodies, namely, the Arunachal Press Club, the Arunachal Pradesh Union of Working Journalists, and the Arunachal Electronic and Digital Media Association have condemned the incident and clarified that the arrested person is not associated with any media outlet of the state. This is a matter of serious concern and the police should properly investigate the matter.
A person using a press tag to carry out drug-peddling at this juncture, when the Itanagar capital region is in lockdown, is a serious breach. Henceforth the capital police should properly check the identity cards of the people who claim to be journalists. There is every possibility that some unscrupulous people might use fake press tags to indulge in illegal activities. Also, in the last one year, there has been a sudden growth in the digital media. Several people are starting to run digital media channels which have presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While the growth of media is always welcome, many of the media persons working in these groups are not properly trained. This is affecting the quality of reporting. In a volatile situation, the lack of professionalism can create more chaos. Therefore, whoever is running these digital media groups should first give proper training to the people working under them and then start their channels.