KATHMANDU: Police thrashed sports journalist Suman Chapagain before the football tournament final under the 13th South Asian Games outside the Dasharath Stadium on Tuesday.

Chapagain, member of Nepal sports journalists Forum and working in Nagarik daily, was on his way to entering the National Sports Council premises when he took pictures of policemen beating a guy outside the stadium. Chapagain was beaten up at a time when Members of Parliament and NSC officials were playing a friendly match inside the stadium to mark the World Human Rights Day.

After receiving first aid at the SAG Medical Centre, Chapagain was taken to nearby Bluecross Hospital for further treatment. NSJF, which staged a sit-in protest on the NSC premises, demanded stern action against the culprits.

“The thrashing of sports journalists is not acceptable under any situation,” said the NSJF in a release demanding action over the team led by SSP Santosh Singh Rathore.

Federation of Nepali Journalists and Photojournalists Club also issued a release and demanded action against the policemen involved in the incident.

The sit-in protest ended after NSC Member Secretary Ramesh Kumar Silwal and Nepal Olympic Committee President Jeevan Ram Shrestha assured the NSJF officials of taking action over the involved policemen and also bearing the cost of Chapagain’s treatment.